Voice of Atlantis
by CMDragonia
Summary: AU. They never expected to find an Ancient in the City, and Lorne never expected to fall in love with her. LorneOC, all characters, parallels the Show. Spoilers for all seasons, especially the first 2 episodes of season 3.
1. The Girl in the Infirmary

Disclaimer: I do not own anyone in the Stargate Universe except my own characters that I create. Unfortunately.

Author's Note: This is my first ever fanfiction, so please be kind! This is an idea I've had for a while and so I was compelled to put it here for everyone to read. Reviews are most welcome and appreciated.

EDIT: And now that it's official, Major Lorne's name will be Evan. Which, in my opinion, makes him that much cuter.

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"All right Laddie, you're all set. Don't try to overexert yourself for the rest of the day. I would suggest resting, but I know you military folk can't sit still for even a minute" Dr. Carson Beckett looked at his patient, Major Lorne, who had already hopped down from the table and was gathering his things together.

"Not a problem Doc, I'm off duty for the rest of the day, I was planning on getting some sleep and doing paperwork. No exertion at all." Just then, the door to the infirmary swished open and Dr. Elizabeth Weir walked in. "Ah, Dr. Beckett, Major Lorne, just the two people I wanted to see." She greeted them. "Carson, how's our special guest doing?"

"'Bout ready to leave the infirmary Dr. Weir. Do you have the quarters all set up?"

"Yes, everything's all set and ready. Major Lorne, I was wondering if you'd do me a favor before you go off duty?"

"Sure, doc, what do you need me to do?" Major Lorne asked her.

"I'd like you to escort out new friend to her quarters. They're fairly close to your own room, so it's not too out of the way." Dr. Weir started walking towards the isolation room, where Dr. Beckett had just entered. Major Lorne followed her in. There in the room was a young woman, about in her early 20s, sitting on the bed reading something on a data pad.

Major Lorne recognized the girl at once. He had heard about her but had yet to meet her. Apparently, Lt. Colonel Sheppard and his team had gone wandering through a part of Atlantis to get their new team member Ronon Dex, acquainted with his new surroundings. As they were walking past what seemed to be a solid wall, it had suddenly moved and opened, revealing a laboratory. Inside was an incubation chamber, similar to the one they had found the elder Dr. Weir in. That's where they had found the girl. She had been taken out and woken up, and thus was why she was in the infirmary. The girl heard her visitors enter the room and put the data pad down and stood up in greeting.

"Dr. Beckett, Dr. Weir, hello. Am I to leave the infirmary today?" The girl spoke with a tone of someone both older and one still adjusting to her surroundings. She had been awake for about a week and had seemed to know who everyone was and what their mission was almost as soon as she had woken up. She also seemed to be familiar with all of the technology on Atlantis. Dr. McKay had deduced that she had been developing at a fast rate in the lab ever since they had arrived in Atlantis, and was somehow connected to the city because she knew so much. She even seemed to know about things right before they happened.

"Yes Lassie, I'm officially releasing you. You're in perfect health and I think it's time you get out of here." Carson smiled warmly at her.

"This is Major Lorne," Dr. Weir said to the girl. "He's going to escort you to your new living quarters. I hope you like them, I heard a few female officers and scientists donated a few things to make you more comfortable there. Especially one Lt. Laura Cadman." Dr. Weir glanced sideways at Dr. Beckett, who had turned a little red at the mention of the Lt.

"Thank you Dr. Weir, you and your people have been very kind to me, I can only hope that I can assist your scientists in learning more about the City." The girl turned to the Major. "If you will give me a minute, sir, I need to gather a few things to bring with me."

Lorne smiled. "No problem Miss. I'll be waiting right outside when you're all set to go." The three older people left the room.

"Does she have a name yet?" Major Lorne asked Dr. Weir.

"Not yet. She said she doesn't have any recollection of one, and Rodney hasn't seen any mention of a name in the data collected from the Lab. However, there are quite a few people here who have been suggesting names for her to choose from."

"Major, might I request that you stay with her for a little while to make sure she's comfortable in her room. She pretty much knows where everything is already, so she probably won't need a tour, but just make sure she's okay before you go back to your quarters." Dr. Beckett said.

"No problem Doc. I can probably also introduce her to a few other people around here so that she gets acquainted with everyone. I assume Colonel Sheppard and his teams have been here a few times already."

"Oh yes, she's probably in there trying to pack up all the things they've brought her in the last week. Apparently she has already developed and affinity to football, most likely thanks to Sheppard." Carson chuckled. As soon as he said this the girl exited the isolation room.

"I am ready to leave, Major Lorne. Dr. Beckett, thank you for the care you have given me, I appreciate everything you have done." Dr. Beckett once again smiled warmly and patted her on the arm as she walked past him and towards Major Lorne, who was already exiting the infirmary.

Thoughts? I already have a name in mind for the girl, but suggestions are most welcome, seeing as how the other characters of Atlantis are suggesting some!


	2. New but Familiar Surroundings

Here is Chapter 2, feel free to send me name ideas for the Girl, even though I have one in mind. Reviews are also very appreciated!

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Major Lorne turned to the girl once they had left the infirmary. "Here, I'll carry that for you." He reached for the bag that the girl was holding. The girl seemed reluctant to give it to him. "You offer to carry my things? Why?" The girl looked at him slightly confused. Lorne smiled at her kindly.

"It's something a gentleman does. Carries heavy things, holds doors open, gives a girl a jacket when she is cold, lets her eat the fries off his plate…" A blank stare was the only thing that he got in reply. "Look, it's just me offering to help. It's a nicety, so you don't have to lug such a heavy bag around the city to your room." Lorne once again reached for the bag, and the girl handed it to him.

"I appreciate your kindness, although I do not understand what "lugging" means, I know that we can take a transporter over to the living quarters and my room is not that much further." The girl smiled at him. "But I do thank you, it was getting to be a little heavy. Dr. Beckett said that my muscles aren't as strong as they should be, but they are strong enough to let me leave the infirmary." They approached the Transporter and stepped inside. Without thinking, the Girl pressed on the console to where they were heading. Lorne looked surprised, but didn't say anything. Instead, he said, "So, how do you like everyone around here? I know you've met most of the senior staff and our Fearless Flagship team." Lorne grinned as he said that.

"Flagship team? Oh, you mean Colonel Sheppard, Dr. McKay, Teyla and Ronon. Yes, they were the ones to find me and among the first to visit me in the infirmary, besides Dr. Beckett and Dr. Weir. Co. Sheppard has been quite, entertaining these last few day when he has visited. Everyone else that I have met have also been quite kind to me. I sense that they hold me to a kind of esteem. According to Dr. McKay I am the "missing link" of Atlantis." They stopped at a doorway. The girl waved her hand over the panel on the side of the door and it opened. She continued talking. "Dr. McKay wishes to run tests on me; he seems to believe that I hold what he calls the "secrets of Atlantis" in my brain. He is also quite interested in me because I possess a gene? I am unsure of what that means."

Major Lorne dropped her bag on the bed. "It means that you can do what you just did, open doors, turn on consoles by touching them or thinking about them. You basically have a piece of Ancient DNA in your own that lets you do those things. Atlantis responds to you." The girl nodded, but did not respond to him. Instead, she stared around her new room.

A brightly colored tapestry was hanging on one wall, with pictures of earth and its many different cities on another. The couch in her room had at least 5 differently colored pillows, and there was a box with a few blankets there next to it. In her closet space was a small assortment of shirts and pants, not just military issue, but civilian clothing as well. There was also a bookshelf that was half full of books and a few movies. Major Lorne watched the girl as she slowly walked around the room in amazement. He was standing next to the desk which held a computer and some paper and pens, and saw a note there. Picking it up he said, "Hey, you have a note, want me to read it to you?" The girl nodded, walking over to her closet and looking at all the clothing there. Lorne smirked and then started to read.

"_Hey, I hope you like everything here in the room, I figured giving you things from Earth would help you become more familiar with all of us and how we are, although the tapestry is from Teyla's people as a welcome gift. If you need anything else or just want someone to talk to, don't hesitate to find me! Oh, and you have a standing invitation to Girl's Poker night. It might help you get better acquainted with us earthlings! Enjoy! Lt. Laura Cadman_

_P.S. I have some name suggestions for you too, so come talk to me!"_

Major Lorne looked up at the girl. She had seated herself on the couch and was listening to him read the note.

"Many people have suggested names to me. Apparently the naming of a person is both very important in your culture and very exciting, and thus some of the names are quite," she paused, "creative." Lorne laughed. "I'm not surprised, but you're some of the most excitement we've had here in a while. You're going to get to be pretty popular." The girl sighed slightly and stood from her couch. "Well, I suppose I should get adjusted to my surroundings. Major Lorne, Thank you for accompanying me to my quarters, you have been very generous with your time."

"It's not a problem at all. If you ever need anything or just want to talk to someone, I'm right down the hall" he pointed in the direction of his room. "I'll pretty much be there for the rest of the afternoon doing paperwork, so feel free to stop by." Lorne walked towards the door as he said this. Turing in the open doorway to face her, he said, "And by the way, you can call me Evan." With that, he left the girl in her room.

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Thoughts? Please Review, I need to know that people are reading this!


	3. Musings of a Major

Major Lorne walked the short way down to his room and entered it. Heaving a great sigh, he sat down at his desk. He turned to his computer and begrudgingly started writing up all the reports he had to do. He had gotten through most of them when he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. His thoughts turned back to the girl. She must be very confused, he thought, even if she does have a good way of hiding it. He could only imagine how she was adapting. It had only been a little over a week since she had been discovered, and she had spent all that time in the infirmary. Then he remembered that she had been created by the City, and she had already proven to be very comfortable with her surroundings. She did however seem a bit uncomfortable around a lot of people. Hmm, he though, maybe I should invite her to dinner later, she already knows me and so hopefully she'd be comfortable with the idea. And if Colonel Sheppard is around he'd probably eat with us too, so she can adjust better.

Evan wished that he didn't have to refer to the girl as "she" or "the girl." He knew that most of the inhabitants of the city were being friendly by suggesting names for her, but the choice was ultimately up to her. He hoped that the other expedition members weren't getting too overzealous with the names, but then again, there wasn't much excitement around here other than new discoveries or threats of Wraith attacks, and that wasn't the good kind of excitement.

Evan looked over to a picture on his desk. It was one of only a few personal things he had brought with him for the moment, though the next time the Daedalus came in he was scheduled to get a nice assortment of his stuff that was sitting in storage with everyone else's stuff. The picture was of him and a brilliantly smiling girl with long brown hair and similar dimples. He smiled. Becka, his kid sister. Incredibly outgoing and not afraid to speak her mind, Lorne could see her making fast friends with the girl. Unfortunately she wasn't military and didn't know where he was at the moment, so that was impossible to think about. However, now that they had the ZPM and could contact Stargate Command and were allowed to send short messages, he was always sure to send her a quick one saying hi.

Hm, Lorne thought, maybe that's why I feel so eager to help the girl adjust to here, she sort of reminds me of Becks. He quickly looked at his watch. "Dinnertime." He said out loud to himself. He got out of his chair and stretched quickly, relieving all the tension in his back from sitting for such a long time. He exited his room and walked directly into the girl.

"Whoops! I'm so sorry." He laughed, embarrassed. The girl smiled back at him. "I apologize, that was bad timing on my part. I had come to your room to ask if you would care to join me for dinner, I think it would be uncomfortable for me to ask Dr. Weir or anyone else that I do not know that well, and you have been very generous to me today." She explained.

Lorne laughed. "You know, I was actually on my way out of here to ask you the same thing. Crazy, huh? Well, we might as well head over to Dinner than, shall we?" The girl smiled and nodded in agreement and the two started walking down the hall to the Mess Hall. Lorne couldn't help feel that it was a little coincidental that the two of them had wanted to go to dinner with the other. Familiarity, he decided. She's comfortable with me, and I want to help her out and get to know her. He smiled to himself as they entered the transporter and in a few moments entered the Mess Hall.


	4. Dinner in Atlantis

Disclaimer: No one is mine. Except the Girl. That is all.

A/N: I've been bitten by the writing bug and hence keep updating this story. It's a bit longer than that other chapers so far I think, but that's because when you get Sheppard and McKay together at dinner anything goes! I hope everyone enjoys it, please R&R! UPDATE: Some quick edits, I keep getting little ideas, so there they are.

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Many heads turned as Major Lorne and the Girl walked into the Mess Hall. Being such a small community, word traveled fast and everyone knew about her but few had had the chance to see her in person. Major Lorne could sense the girl tense up, but she calmly followed him over to the food line and took a tray. Lorne tried to lighten the situation.

"So, what foods of ours have you tried yet? I'm sure Beckett fed you well enough while you were in the infirmary. Ooh, there's chicken today. Have you tried it yet?"

"I've have tried most meats, vegetables, and fruitsthat you eat, however I have a preference for what you say is chicken, turkey, and beef. As for fruits and vegetables, I'm afraid Dr. Beckett fears that I will be a picky eater." She was handed a plate of chicken and moved to get some of the mashed potatoes next. Lorne noticed that she passed over pretty much all the vegetables except the corn that was there. He, on the other hand, helped himself to mostly everything. He hadn't eaten since breakfast, so he was a bit hungry. They walked towards the deserts, and the girl stopped and stared atthem apprehensively.

"What, you afraid of our Jell-O? It's nothing, trust me! The most fun you can have with food, let me tell you." Suddenly from out of nowhere came the voice of Lt. Colonel John Sheppard.

"It's blue." came the reply from her. The Colonel Laughed. "What, you don't trust things that are blue? I would have thought Beckett would have fed you this stuff in the infirmary. By the way, how are you doing kiddo? I have to say it is nice to see you out of the clutches of the good Doc." He paused, finally noticing the Major standing there. "And Major Lorne, how nice to see you escorting our friend to dinner, that's very, sweet of you."John smirked at the Major and was met with an indifferent face. "I was helping her get settled in to her room earlier and then we ended up bumping into each other on the way to the Mess, so here we are." He carefully left out the part of how they had both bumped into each other intending on asking the other to dinner. He figured the Colonel would have a field day with it. The girl then spoke up. "Yes, I was pleased to happen by the Major, I would have been uncomfortable coming here and sitting with people I was unfamiliar with." She looked over at Lorne quickly as if to say that she understood why he had changed the actual events. Lorne smiled at her.

"Well isn't that nice. Well, now you can end up sitting with more people you know, I happen to be here with Rodney, so you two are very welcome to sit with us." Sheppard started leading them to the table where Rodney was sitting already eating. Rodney looked up quickly between bites and quickly swallowed his food. "Ah, hello, hello. How are you doing? Getting used to this place? Well, I suppose not really getting used to, seeing as how you already know everything about here. And Major, hello, how are you?" Rodney took another bite of food as they all sat down.

"I am well Dr. McKay, thank you. And I suppose there are some things here that I have to get used to, such as all the technology from Earth. I am not quite familiar with everything that you brought with you yet, although your computers are quite simple to use." She looked down at her tray as McKay looked up from his food slightly shocked at her statement. "Oh, I forgot to get a beverage." She moved to get up, but Sheppard was two steps ahead of her.

"Wait here Hun, I'll go get you something, don't worry. Be back in a flash." He took off to the drinks as the girl settled back down. She slowly started eating her food. Major Lorne, having sat down next to her and begun eating, finished the bite he had already taken and looked at her. "You like it?" She nodded. "Everything is good, but the, potatoes? I believe they need more" she paused, looking for the word "salt." She finished. Lorne smiled and passed her the salt shaker, grinning at her as she put a considerable amount of salt on her food. McKay stared at her in half amazement. "Impressive." He said. "Carson would neverlet you do this in the Infirmary. You'll have to be careful if you ever eat around him, he doesn't say anything, but you can see in his eyes that he has a certain, shall we say, distain for some people's eating habits." Colonel Sheppard had returned to hear him say this, and laughed.

"You mean he has a distain for your eating habits, Rodney. And maybe Ronon also, I mean, you two eat a lot of food. Here you go kiddo." He handed the girl a pink colored drink.

"What is this?" She asked him. "Pink Lemonade." He answered, smirking towards Major Lorne as Rodney started sputtering. "Please, if you don't mind keeping that away from me, I have a deadly allergy to anything citrus and if I come into contact with it…" He was cut off sharply by the girl laughing. All three men stared at her, no one had heard her laugh yet, she had always seemed to be very quiet although she did smile a lot.

"Yes, Dr. McKay, I am well aware of your allergy. I assume that the Colonel brought me this as a joke, although I do thank you Colonel Sheppard, I actually have developed a fondness for Lemonade." She grinned at all of them as she took a sip of her drink. "However, I don't quite understand whyit is dyed pink..." Lorne started chuckling softly and Sheppard's face broke out into a huge grin. "Hey, seems to me you're gonna get along here just fine kiddo." He said. "But you know, we are gonna have to give you a name soon."

She cut him off quickly. "I am Colonel, as you say, working on it. I have been told that a name can be very significant, and seeing as how my beginnings, were, well, rather, unique, shall we say, I believe the proper name will take some time to become apparent." She stopped, her eyes wide in a bit of embarrassment. "I apologize if I was a bit harsh with my words. I do appreciate everyone's enthusiasm." She awkwardly went back to her meal. Lorne looked over at her and smiled. "I think the whole enthusiasm thing has gotten to you a little bit. How about the Colonel and I make sure that people don't harass you for a while about your name so you can adjust to all of us, ok?" He looked over at the Colonel, who nodded in agreement. The girl looked at him and smiled.

"Thank you Major, that is very kind. Dr. McKay, would you like to accompany me to get some dessert? I am unfamiliar with many of them and I have a feeling you can be of great assistance to me." Rodney looked at her, trying to tell if she was making a joke about him or not. Deciding it wasn't a jab, he stood and grabbed his tray. "Yea, sure, not a problem. I can only imagine what Beckett let you eat, and I'm sure you'll like some of the stuff over there. You're a girl, so you'll like chocolate, but there's other stuff too." He started walking away from the table and the girl followed, saying, "Actually, I have discovered that I am do not like this chocolate as much as others might, but like you said, there are other things." The two of them walked out of earshot of Sheppard and Lorne. John leaned back in his chair and looked at Lorne.

"So, getting to be fast friends with her, huh? That was admirable, you saying that about the name thing. I bet she liked that a lot." The Major looked at Sheppard. "I was just trying to defuse the situation. She gets very anxious every time someone mentions that to her, so maybe having people back off for a few days will be good. There's nothing there for you to read into, Sir." John laughed. "Don't worry, Lorne, I'm not asking you about your intentions with her. Or am I going to have to make a note to keep that one stored away for later?" He smirked at the Major. Lorne stiffened. "No, you don't have to file anything away for later. I'm just being a nice guy and trying to get her adjusted to living here with all of us. I'm just being a friend, nothing more. And besides, I doubt you're one to be giving the intentions speech, _Sir._"

The Colonel flushed for a moment, and then smirked. "You're lucky we're both off duty, Lorne, I might have sent you to babysit the scientists on the most boring missions for a week or two. But I have to say I'm glad that she's making some acquaintances here, and I heard that Cadman completely decorated her room." Lorne laughed. "You have no idea, sir, it's very, colorful. You'll have to see it for yourself." "I just might." John said in reply. Rodney and the girl walked back over to the table then, McKay talking about possibly running some tests on the girl the next day, if that was alright.

"I believe as long as they do not require needles or any form of electric shock I will be willing to assist you, Doctor." She sat down and shuddered slightly. "I do not like needles at all." Shaking her head, she turned and looked at the Major as she handed him a plate with a piece of cake on it. "I forgot to ask you earlier if you would like anything, but I had a feeling that you enjoy this type of dessert, so I brought you a piece." She looked at Sheppard. "Colonel, if Rodney hasn't eaten it yet we also brought you some dessert, as I forgot to ask you if you wanted anything either." Sheppard laughed at the joke, and took the plate from Rodney. "Thanks Hun, I appreciate it, it was very nice of you to think of us. And Rodney, don't you think you should maybe wait a day or two before you turn her into your new Guinea Pig? She did just get out of Beckett's clutches."

The four people finished their desserts as Rodney tried to defend his research. Colonel Sheppard then looked at his watch and grinned. "Well kids, it's been fun, but now I have the pleasure of getting my butt kicked by the lovely Teyla. If you will all excuse me, I'll see you tomorrow." He left the table, and Rodney quickly left after him. Major Lorne turned to the girl. "You ready to go?" He asked her. "Yes, I am quite full as well as a bit tired." She said. The two then stood and left the Mess Hall and headed back to the Transporter to take each back to their room.

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R&R? Please? I hope you liked it!


	5. Confidant

Disclaimer: I only own the girl. Everyone else I can only wish I owned, but then owning people is slavery, and I don't want that. Maybe Lorne and Sheppard, but that's a whole different kind of slave and...sorry, very dirty mind.

A/N: So, this is some more of the developing relationship between Major Lorne and the Girl, who will probably choose a name in the next chapter, and the name will probably be the one I've thought of unless someone else can reccomend anything appropriate. It gets a little angsty at the end, and I apologize for that, I think I was feeding off a bit of River Tam from Firefly/Serenity. I hope you enjoy it, and please review!

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A few days after first meeting the Girl, Major Lorne walked with his team back through the Stargate to Atlantis. They had been off world for the past 12 hours doing routine scans for possible Alpha and Beta sites. The planet they had just come from seemed to be promising, but they still had to report to Dr. Weir and send a science team along with a Jumper to make sure the area was secure. Lorne looked up to the control room and off to Dr. Weir's room, where he could see Dr. Weir was in a meeting with Dr. McKay, Dr. Beckett, and Colonel Sheppard. McKay was talking animatedly about something. Lorne smiled to himself. Rodney was always getting animated about something or other. Lorne decided that since Beckett was in the meeting and not in the infirmary he didn't have to go there immediately for a check-up, so instead he headed to the Transporter and went to his room. Dropping his stuff on his bed, he headed into his bathroom and got into the shower. He had just gotten out of the shower and was drying off when there was a sound like a doorbell in his room. Leaning his head out into the room, he called out, "Um, who is it?"

"Major Lorne? May I come in?" It was the girl. Finding himself blushing slightly, he threw a pair of pants on and called, "Yea, come on in." He heard the door open and the girl entered. "I apologize for the intrusion Major, I hope this isn't an inconvenient time, that is why I used the bell." She stared at Lorne as he exited the bathroom in pants and a towel around his shoulders, but quickly looked down at her hands. "No, its okay, I just got back from a mission and decided to take a shower. So what can I do for you? I haven't seen you in a few days, how are you? Was the bell that noise that was just here?" He sat down on his bed and gestured for her to sit in his chair.

"Yes, you do not know how to use it?" Seeming confused for a moment, she continued, "I am well Major. I have been assisting Dr. McKay in his lab. He has been going over the data collected from the lab where I was found. Although I believe that I did something today that may have upset him, I fear." She looked down at her feet.

"Why do you think you upset him? You have to realize that Rodney McKay has a tendency to get a little overzealous at times, so you probably didn't upset him." Realizing quickly that the girl had yet to look at him, he stood up and grabbed a shirt from his drawers and pulled it on. He walked back over to his bed and sat down facing the girl. She turned slightly in the chair and sighed softly.

"I'm not sure what I did. Dr. McKay was attempting to download some text from the equipment found in my lab and translate it, but he was having a problem with the equipment. I went over and fixed it quickly, and then I looked at what he was trying to translate and started reading it for him so he didn't have to do so much work. When I looked up, he had this look on his face, I do not know what emotion it was, I cannot find a word for it, and then he grabbed some things and ran out of the lab. I waited in his lab for a long while, but when he had not returned I felt that I had upset him and so I left the lab. I couldn't think of anywhere else to go, so I came here. I hope you don't mind Major." She looked up at him apologetically. He could tell that she was upset, so he reached over and put his hand on her knee in a caring manner.

"You didn't do anything. He probably got excited over something you said. And hey, didn't I tell you you can call me Evan?" He smiled at her as she blushed slightly and returned the smile. "I apologize, Evan, I am more comfortable with calling most people here by their ranks."

"Well we're friends now, aren't we? You don't have to address me by my rank when we're hanging out, but it's up to you if there are other people around such as Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard. Oh, and also, don't call me Sir, it makes me feel old, and in all honestly I'm not that much older than you are."

At that statement the girl started laughing. "I'm sorry Evan, but I do not believe that you are two weeks old, as I am." At that he started laughing as well. "I wasn't referring to when you were woken up, I was talking about how old you look. I'm not that much older than how old you look. That's what I was referring to." Still giggling slightly, the Girl grinned at him. "Yes, for the most part I do not feel like I was awoken only two weeks ago. I feel, my age, whatever that is. Dr. Beckett said that I was approximately between the ages of 20-25. I know that Lt. Cadman is 25, and I think I look a little younger than her, so I am saying I look 23. Do you think that is a good age to be?" She asked him. He smiled. "Yea, I'd say that's a good age to be. I have a sister that age, Becka, she's over there in that picture on my desk."

Realizing he still had his hand comfortably on her knee, he lifted it and pointed to the picture. She looked at her leg quickly, then followed his hand and looked at the picture. "She is very, pretty, I believe is the right word." He smiled. The girl then looked down on the desk and saw Lorne's radio. She picked it up and stared at it a minute. Her face changed quickly from comfort to a look of distress. She handed Lorne the radio. "I believe they are calling you on this. You should respond before they send a security team."

Lorne looked at her intently for a minute, wondering what is was that had changed her mood all of a sudden. Then he reached over and took the radio from her open palm. Putting it in his ear, he could hear the call for him. "Hey, it's Major Lorne, has someone been trying to contact me?"

"Yes Major, we've been trying to reach you for the past 15 minutes, I was about to send a security team to your quarters." Came the answer from Dr. Weir.

"I apologize Doctor, I was taking a shower before and forgot to put the radio back on." He looked at the girl, who was sitting in the chair, looking distressed and absentmindedly rotating the seat from side to side.

"That's okay Major, I understand. I was wondering if you knew where the girl is. She isn't in her quarters, and I would like to speak with her for a minute."

The girl looked up at Lorne just then, eyes widened, almost as if she was listening to the conversation. Looking back at her apologetically and shrugging his shoulders slightly, he said, "Yea, um, actually she's here with me. Can I ask why you need to see her?"

"I assure you it's nothing bad, Major, it's just that Rodney has made a few discoveries about our friend and I just wanted to ask her a question or two about them. Can you bring her to my office please?"

"Yes ma'am, we'll be there in a few minutes." Lorne clicked his radio off and looked up at the girl again. She seemed to be a little more relieved, but she was still agitated and swiveling the chair around. Putting his hand on the armrest and on her arm as well, he said softly, "Hey, we have to go talk to Dr. Weir for a few minutes, okay? It's nothing bad, no one is upset with you, they just probably want to know how you were able to read the text that you were helping Dr. McKay with earlier. I'll stay with you the whole time if you want, okay? Relax, there's nothing to worry about." The girl nodded, but made no move to get out of the chair. Major Lorne sighed and stood up, and the hand he still had on her arm guided her up as well. "Hey, come on, why are you acting so scared? You know all of these people, they're friends." Her response sounded distant at first, as if another person was speaking.

"They think they have found out the truth about me. I am, scared, afraid, of what I am, or what they think me to be." She looked straight into Lorne's eyes. "I am a human, just like you. But I can do things, like open the doors and turn consoles on, I know how to use things, like how I used the bell that you didn't even know you had, I know about things that are happening before they happen, and I hear the conversations you have. I heard the conversation that you had with Dr. Weir, and I heard them calling for you as soon as I picked the radio up, and it wasn't even in my ear." He stared at her slightly dumbfounded. She continued. "Dr. Zelenka was working on something today, a diagnostic of sorts, and he did something wrong and received a feedback pulse. When that happened, my head started hurting, like I was linked to the piece of technology. I don't know who I am or what I'm here for, and I'm afraid of that." She looked as if she were about to cry. Not even hesitating, Major Lorne pulled her into a comforting hug.

"Hey, come on, let's not start crying now, okay? I think it might be a good thing if Rodney thinks he knows who you are. It will give you an identity. That's a good thing." He looked down at her. "Maybe knowing a little more about yourself will help you feel more at home here. Come on, we have to get to Dr. Weir's office. I promise I'll be there the whole time, okay? Everything will be alright." With that, she pulled away from him, looking at the ground and sniffing slightly, then picked her head up.

"Yes, we shouldn't keep Dr. Weir waiting. Let's go." And with that, the two of them left Lorne's room and walked to the transporter to take them to Dr. Weir's office.

-------------------TBC--------------------------

Thoughts? Like it? Too angsty? I'm afraid the next part may be kind of the same, Rodney has some interesting theories on why the girl was created. Stay tuned, and please review!


	6. Theories Tested

Disclaimer: Me-girl. MGM, Sci-Fi& et al- Everyone.

A/N: This was a little harder to write because of the whole meeting. I decided halfway through that Caldwell was still enroute back to Atlantis and so wasn't a part of everything, although he'll show up soon enough, I think. And I know Teyla and Ronon haven't been around,but they'll be in the next chapter Ithink. Also, writing snark (aka Rodney) is tricky, so he might be a little out of character. Also, I made it so that Major Lorne was at Stargate Command at the time of The Lost City Episode, because he was in Season 7, so he knew what happened to Jack. Still no name for the girl yet, but it'll happen soon. Please Review!

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The trip over to Dr. Weir's office was short, and Major Lorne couldn't help putting his hand on the girl's back in a comforting way as they were walking. He could sense the girl relaxing slightly, but she was still very much on edge about what would happen in the meeting. Before she knew it, they were standing in front of Dr. Weir's office. Lorne looked at the girl. "You ready?" "Yes." Came the response. Lorne reached out and knocked on the door, then opened it and followed the girl into the room. Dr. Weir was sitting behind her desk, with Dr. McKay in one of the chairs in front of it. Colonel Sheppard and Dr. Beckett were sitting on the couch to the side. The girl stood in the center of the room, and Lorne stood at ease a little ways behind her.

"Please, sit down." Dr. Weir gestured to the other empty chair in front of her desk. Weir eyed Major Lorne, who responded with a look of "I'm staying put" that she just nodded to.

"I would prefer to stand, Dr. Weir, if that is alright with you." The girl responded. She stood perfectly straight with her eyes on Dr. Weir.

"Okay then. I was wondering if you could answer a few questions for us, if you don't mind. First of all, did you realize that you know how to read Ancient?" All eyes turned on the girl. "I do not know. I was unaware at the time that what I was doing was reading the Ancient's language. I also did not realize it was going to have this much of an impact. I was merely doing what felt natural for me to do."

"So, you mean you can read and speak Ancient, just like that. Like I said earlier, she was created by the Ancients, why wouldn't she be able to understand the language?" Colonel Sheppard said.

"Yes, but then how do you explain how she managed to completely rework one of my computers in my lab just by looking at it for a minute? And how do you explain how she's able to fix things she's never seen before?" Dr. McKay looked irritated.

"I just knew how, Dr. McKay. I cannot understand it, but when I saw the technology you were working with I somehow knew what it was and was able to make it work for you. I thought I was only being helpful in aiding your research." At that Rodney huffed haughtily. "Aiding. If that's what you want to call it."

"Rodney" Dr. Weir gave him a look of warning and then looked back up at the girl. "Do you know exactly what you can do around here, or are you learning as you go?"  
"I am what you say learning as I go, however sometimes I do not realize that what I am doing is unusual or not expected. For example, your quarters have what you call doorbells on them, and yet you do not know how to use them, but I did. There are many things that I do know how to do now, but I have a feeling that there is more that I know, I just have not yet utilized it or been exposed to an environment in which I would need the information I have. You said that I was created by the Ancients from an embryo. Perhaps they managed to do something to my, DNA, I believe, that would make me understand all of the technology and the language."

"Ancient database." Everyone looked at Major Lorne, who was still standing off to the side of the room. He started to explain himself. "I remember when General O'Neill had the Database of the Ancients downloaded to his brain the last time. He started speaking Ancient and building things."

"Yes, I was there at the time. Do you mean to say that possibly she was born with the Ancient Database already stored in her brain?" Dr. Weir said. "Dr. Beckett, did our friend here show and signs of increased brain activity?"

"Aye, that she did, now that you mention it. However it was not that much higher than a normal person's brain activity. Perhaps if I were to take another brain scan there would be more activity. That could explain everything that we have discovered. Would you mind having another scan, lass?" Carson looked at the girl.

"I would have no objections to that, and I hope that the scan will resolve this debate surround my creation." She threw a half glance at Dr. McKay, who was slumped in his seat slightly fuming. Both Colonel Sheppard and Dr. Weir caught the look, and so Dr. Weir quickly said "Okay, then it's settled, we'll see what the scan says and that will hopefully give us the answers, otherwise I say we just drop the subject and let our friend figure out who she is on her own."

"Thank you Dr. Weir." The girl said, bowing slightly towards her. She then turned and walked towards Major Lorne. "Major," she said quietly, "Would you be willing to be there while I have the scan? I would feel more, at ease, is the term I believe."

"Are you sure you really want me there? I doubt I'll be much help." Major Lorne was still concerned for the girl, but felt a little uncomfortable that she was relying on him so much. "Please, Evan. I know that my asking you is somewhat awkward, but you have been very good to me today, and I would really appreciate this. I promise I will repay you for your friendship." Lorne blushed slightly, then smiled down at the girl. "Yea, ok, I'll stay with you. And you don't have to worry about repaying me or anything like that. Besides, I still haven't gotten my after mission check up, so we can kill two birds with one stone by me going there with you." The girl looked puzzled. "Two birds with one stone? There are no animals on Atlantis."

Carson, coming up behind them, chuckled slightly. "It's a saying, lass, now come on, I'm sure you want to get this over with as soon as possible. And yes, Major, you're due to have your after mission check-up too, so let's go." The three left Dr. Weir's office and headed towards the infirmary. When they got to the infirmary, the girl was ushered into the MRI/CAT scan room while Major Lorne went to go have a quick check-up. As soon as he was cleared he went to the room where Carson was observing the scan.

"How's it going Doc?" He asked. Carson looked up at him briefly before looking back at the scan. "You know, I have to say, for a girl in her situation, she is extremely calm and composed. Normally someone like her would be quite scared and a tad edgy. But then again she's not quite a normal girl, is she? And she seems to quite enjoy your company, Major." Lorne shifted uncomfortably from one foot to another. "It's just because she doesn't know a lot of other people. All I'm doing is being friendly. And it's not like there are other people around here her age, either." Beckett laughed. "I'm not trying to make you uncomfortable, lad, I know that you're just being friendly. And besides, I know that she has gotten to be better friends with Lt. Cadman these past few days too, so she's slowly integrating herself."

"I bet you do know that for a fact, Dr." Carson blushed furiously at the joke. "Anyway, can you tell anything from the scan yet?"

"Ah, yes. You see this area in her brain right here? In a normal person, like you and me, the coloring would be a blue color with spots of yellow. In her, the color is a yellow, even an orange, which shows extremely high activity going on in her brain, which would suggest that she could quite possibly have the ancient database in her memory. I'd have to cross reference it with the brain scans taken from General O'Neill, but I can almost guarantee they're similar. Your theory seems to be right, Major." The technician in the room turned off the machine. Beckett stood up and went into the room, with Lorne following him. He stayed by the door as Carson went over to the girl.

"Okay lass, all set. Are you feeling okay?"

"Yes, Dr. Beckett, I am fine. Am I free to leave? I would like to return to my quarters, if that is possible." The girl sat up slowly then hopped down from the table.

"Of course you can return to your quarters. However, if you feel like you're getting a headache or anything else, let me know as soon as possible. Well, off you go now." With that, Dr. Beckett smiled warmly at the girl and left the room. The girl watched Carson leave, then looked at Major Lorne, who was still standing by the door. She smiled softly at him. "So it seems that your theory about me was correct."

"Yea, I guess so, although I don't know what that means for you now. I mean, you feel fine and everything, right?" Lorne looked at the girl somewhat concerned, but was met with just a smile. "I am completely healthy, Evan." She looked at him a little more intently. "You are concerned about my well being. You enjoy having me as a friend, even though we have not spent much time together. You are beginning to care." Major Lorne stiffened, embarrassed that she had read his thoughts, and looked around the infirmary. "You know, I think we shouldn't be discussing this type of thing here in public."

"Of course." The girl said quickly. She began walking out of the infirmary, and Lorne shook his head and followed her. They entered the transporter that led them to the wing where their rooms were. They walked down the short hallway in silence, but when they got to the Girl's room she stopped and turned to him.

"You are welcome to come in, we can either continue our discussion, although it is somewhat, awkward, I think is the word, for you, or you can come in and we can discuss something else. Lt. Cadman, Laura, she has lent me several of what she calls movies from Earth that she thinks I would enjoy. I would not mind hearing your opinion of these movies, I have heard that a few of them are more suited for females while others are more enjoyed by men. I am unsure of what exactly they are, Laura tried to explain it to me, but I still do not understand. Would you like to enter?" She looked up at him with a gentle smile.

For some reason the girl's smile melted away any uncomfortable feelings the Major was having. He could be friends with the girl, and why not? He felt in some way they had made a kind of connection, especially when she came to him when she was upset earlier before the meeting. And besides, he thought to himself, Cadman probably gave her a bunch of chick flicks to watch, and I might as well make sure she understands all the genres of movies. He smiled back at the girl. "Sure, let's go see what Cadman gave you to watch. I think you'll enjoy movies, you can forget about what's going on around you for a while." And with that, the two entered her room.

-------------TBC------------------

I hope you enjoyed, and I know there really hasn't been any trouble yet or anything, but there will be soon, I just want to do a little development before I start paralleling it the show. It'll happen soon though, probably with either Condemned or Conversion. We'll see what happens. So, tell me what you think!


	7. Of Names and Movies

Disclaimer- You know how it goes.

A/N- Okay! So here it is, the naming! And there's a bit of fluff too. And I tend to jump from happy to awkward a lot I think, but it fits in my mind, so here it is. Also, we have the honor of seeing Sheppard and Ronon also. Some pop-culture references too, so be gentle when you review! And please do review! I really enjoy reading what everyone thinks, especially because this is the first time I've ever done anything like this! Thank you and enjoy!

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"Are you sure I will enjoy this, 'Lord of the Rings' movie? It seems to be a bit, well, complicated. And you say that there is a book also? Should I not read the book instead of seeing the movie?" Major Lorne couldn't help laugh out loud. "Trust me, you'll love this movie. It's all about magic and destiny and weird creatures and friendship and that kind of stuff. I didn't think I would like the movie, but I had read the book as a kid and my sister begged me to take her when it came out, so we went and I really liked it. And Cadman gave you the special edition, so there are all kinds of scenes that weren't in the movie when it was in the theatres." The girl looked at him blankly. "I did not understand most of what you said, however I believe that I do want to see it. I am guessing we can watch it on my computer? The screen is a bit small, though."

"That's okay, we can move your desk closer so that we can see it. I would suggest watching it in the TV room, but then everyone would want to see it, and I'd rather not have to deal with a city full of Scientists speaking Elfish. I'm sorry that I don't have popcorn or anything though. I'm sure I could raid the kitchens and grab some types of snacks, but…hey, let me move that, I don't want you to hurt yourself." Lorne had realized the girl was already trying to move the desk closer to where they were sitting. The two of them moved the desk, then the girl turned to the Major.

"I don't know what popcorn is, but I did not eat dinner tonight, so perhaps snacks would be nice. However, I suggest you go later, that way the kitchen staff won't even be around, so you can take what you want." She smiled at Lorne's taken aback expression. "The kitchen staff still there at the moment, so I suggest we start the movie and then we can get food later on." Lorne smiled. "Sounds good to me," he said. "Let's get the show on the road." Putting the movie in, he settled himself down onto the couch as the Girl relaxed on her bed.

The end of the first CD seemed to come quickly. Lorne had stolen a few glances at the girl during the first part. She had been enraptured, completely engrossing herself into the world of Middle Earth. Having the screen go blank for a few moments brought her out of her trance, along with soft sounds of her stomach rumbling. Sheepishly, she looked at Lorne. "I believe it is safe to go and get some food now, Evan. I have to admit I am a little hungry."

"You don't have to tell me twice, I'm starving too. I'll be right back. Don't put the second part of the movie on without me, okay?" With that, Major Lorne grinned at the girl and took off down the hall to get the snacks. The girl smiled and sank onto her bed. She had had an incredibly stressful day, between finding out she could read Ancient, to the Meeting, to the scan that showed that she indeed did have the Ancient Database inside of her head. It was nice that she could relax now. The movie was a true feat of creativity. She would definitely have to find someone on Atlantis who had the books so she could read them. Lying back onto her bed, she sighed. She had spent the last few days adjusting to her new life here on Atlantis with all of the Expedition. She had already started to learn so much about their culture and ways. She had also spent a lot of time with Lt. Cadman, and she felt that Laura had started to get her to integrate some of Earth mannerisms into her own. Of course she still didn't completely understand a lot of the stories about Earth she had heard, but she knew that eventually she would completely understand. Having friends like Cadman and Lorne made the integration easier, she felt.

She smiled. Evan was truly a good friend. Although at times today she had felt some conflicting feelings from him, she knew that she could turn to him when she needed someone to talk to. She had realized that certain people were more open with their emotions and thoughts, and so she could "read" them better, however there were others that guarded their thoughts as tight as possible, and so she could not completely understand what they were thinking or feeling. Even still, she knew that she would be safe here in the city. She turned her head and looked over at her desk. She reached out and took a pad of paper off of the table. Sighing slightly, she began to read it over. It was a list of possible names for her that had been collected by Cadman from all of the inhabitants of the city, and a few from the Athosians as well. Some of them were quite creative, while others were apparently common names found on Earth. She was still looking over the list intently when Lorne reentered the room, his arms full of snacks.

"I didn't know what you would want, so I just grabbed whatever I could. I hope you don't mind. I can take all the excess stuff back to my room so you don't have to deal with all the clutter." He looked at her, and the list in her hands. "Everything okay?" The girl sat up on her bed. "Yes, I was just looking over the list of names Lt. Cadman gave me. I feel that since I know a little more about myself I should have a name. What do you think?"

"About having a name? Yea, I think it might be about time you picked one. It's easier than calling you by general references." He put all the snacks down on a small table the Girl had and then turned to the computer and put the second part of the movie in. As it loaded, he said, "It's up to you, though. You don't have to rush it, take you time and make sure it's what you want." Smiling at her, he went and sat down comfortably on the couch and opened a bag of potato chips. "Want to try some?"

The girl took a chip, then turned to the computer screen. As the beginning of the movie started, she looked over at Lorne. "What name would you choose? You have been the only one to not suggest a name to me, so what would you suggest?" Lorne coughed, caught off guard by the question. As he pondered the question, the Girl returned to watching the movie. They sat in silence for the rest of the movie. Lorne stopped watching halfway through the second part, his thoughts consumed by the question he had just been asked. He watched her for a while, studying the way she was sitting there enthralled by what she was seeing. His mind raced with possible names for her that he thought would be appropriate. He was lost in his thoughts until he realized that the movie had ended and the Girl was turning the computer off. She sat back down on the bed and looked at him. "Evan, are you alright?" She placed her hand on his arm, and he startled slightly and turned to look into her eyes.

"Atlanteá." Lorne said softly. The girl looked at him puzzled. He smiled awkwardly, then explained himself. "As a name for you. I know it's probably been suggested, but you were created by the Ancients to be the voice of Atlantis for us, so that we could learn more about the City. So take its name. Although, Atlantea would probably be too long sometimes to say, so you would need a nickname. Hmm, Teá sounds too much like Teyla, and Attie is sort of dumb. What about Lannie? I guess that's what I would suggest as a name for you. So there you go." Blushing slightly, he looked away from the Girl's fixated gaze. The girl stared at him for a little longer, then looked down. She smiled brilliantly to herself, then looked back up at Lorne. "Lannie, Atlanteá, it is a good name." She said softly. They both looked back up and stared at each other for a while longer.

Major Lorne felt like he had lost all ability to speak. The Girl, Lannie now, he guessed, was looking fixated at him, and he couldn't help not gaze back at her. This is the second time today I've felt a connection to her, he thought to himself. He didn't quite know how to feel about it. All she needs is a friend right now, not something completely different, he thought to himself. I shouldn't be feeling so, close to her right now. Shifting slightly in his seat, their moment was interrupted by a knock on the door. Lorne and the Girl moved apart quickly, as she called out, "Who is it?"

"It's Colonel Sheppard and Chewie, I mean, um, Ronon. Can we come in for a minute?" The Girl looked over to Lorne, who was sitting further away from her on the couch. He nodded at her. "Yes, come in."

The door opened and Sheppard sauntered in, followed closely by Ronon. "Wow, this place is really decorated." He noticed Lorne sitting on the couch. "Major, how, unexpected, to see you here. You were right about the room, Cadman certainly knows how to decorate." He smirked evilly at Lorne, but was met with a blank look from the Major. Ronon looked around and caught sight of the food on the table. "How did you manage to get food here?" The girl smiled. "I knew when the kitchen staff would not be there, and so Major Lorne went down at that time and got everything. We just finished watching a movie, and apparently snacks are important to have. Have you ever seen Lord of the Rings, Colonel?" She asked him.

"Oh yea, I've seen all of them. So that's what you two were watching? Not much of a date movie, Lorne." Lorne opened his mouth in retort, but the girl started in first. "I was not a date as you call it Colonel. Lt. Cadman gave me a selection of movies to choose from, and I asked the Major's opinion of which would be the best movie to watch first. He suggested this movie, and then said that he had not seen it in some time, so I invited him to stay. Besides, I needed him to get me the food, I would not have been able to get everything I wanted by myself." She smiled at the Colonel as he laughed at her sarcastic remark. "I can see you've been hanging around us a lot lately. Just don't pick up on all of McKay's sarcasm, ok? You're much better than that kind of talk. Hey, Ronon, throw me one of those cookies you've got." Ronon had helped himself to some of the snacks, and he obliged the Colonel.

"So, were you on your night rounds, sir?" Lorne finally spoke up. Sheppard finished the bite of cookie he had in his mouth. "Yep, and Ronon decided to tag along, and since I hadn't seen our friend's room here, we decided to stop by. We didn't realize that she was entertaining company, though."

"It's Lannie." The girl interjected. Sheppard and Ronon both looked at her confused. "I have tentatively decided on a name. Atlanteá, or Lannie for short. It's fitting, is it not?" John pondered it for a moment, then smiled at her. "I think it's a great name. And you even have a nickname, so that makes it even better. Well, I'm glad I'll have something to address you by, Lannie. Now if you don't mind, I think I'll take off and take the jolly food giant with me. C'mon Ronon, we still have another wing to sweep through. Lannie, have a good night. Major, I'll see you in the meetings tomorrow." With that, Colonel Sheppard and Ronon left the room. Lannie half-smiled at Lorne. "You are very uncomfortable again, Evan. You do not enjoy the, innuendos, that the Colonel suggests. I understand why you are feeling that way, and I am sorry I am the cause of your discomfort."

"Lannie. You don't need to apologize for anything. Colonel Sheppard just knows how to push my buttons. It's nothing. But he was right about one thing, I do have a lot of meetings tomorrow, so I'd better get going. I'll help you put the desk back." He stood from the couch and started pushing the desk back into place. Once he had finished, he turned and found Lannie standing behind him with some of the snacks in her arms. "You said you would take them to your room, however I would like to keep some here in case I ever get hungry, if that is okay. You can have these if you want." She deposited the snacks into Lorne's hands and stepped back. "Evan, thank you for an enjoyable evening." Her voice dropped slightly. "And thank you also for the name. I think I will try it out for a few days to see how I like it. Actually, thank you for everything you have done for me today, you have no idea how grateful I am to you." Lorne smiled down at her. "Hey, that's what friends do. I'll see you later, okay?" Lannie nodded, and with another smile, Lorne left her room and returned to his own.

-------------TBC-------------------

Thoughts? What do you think of the girl's name? Or of the "connection" between Lorne and Lannie? Next chapter will probably be about Lannie making more friends, so probably an appearance by Teyla, Cadman, and Ronon again. So until then!


	8. Girl Talk

Disclaimer: You know how it goes.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing this, I really appreciate it! So, this chapter proves that Lannie has more friends than just Lorne, and describes her a little more. I don't know if I made Cadman too girly or not, but I figure that since they're both pretty close in age Cadman would be pretty happy to have someone to talk to about things other than the military. I hope you enjoy it!

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"Ronon! Please wait just a moment, you are too fast for me to keep up with." Lannie raced down the walkway towards Ronon Dex, who begrudgingly stopped and turned to watch as she caught up with him. "You were the one to suggest we go on a run." He stated to the girl, who had finally caught up and was walking in a circle attempting to catch her breath. "Actually, it was Dr. Beckett that suggested I start doing exercises to increase my muscle tone. He is afraid that I will not reach the target weight he needs me to gain. Apparently, I am somewhat emaciated. I don't quite understand, but all I know is that I can eat pretty much whatever I want."

"Well, you were pretty frail when we found you, kiddo." Colonel Sheppard jogged up to them, panting harder than the girl. "I'm impressed, though, you're running skills are pretty decent." He took a gulp of water from the bottle he had in his hand, and offered it to Lannie. She took it and took a gulp. "I still don't quite understand though. But I will not complain, at least exercising gives me a chance to connect more to the city, as well as allowing me to meet new people. Teyla has me sparring different people every day, and it is an opportunity to meet others as well as practice my stick fighting as well as hand-to-hand combat, although I probably will never have to opportunity to use it. Dr. Weir is afraid to even let me go over to the mainland to visit the Athosians. I wished to thank them for the gifts they sent me. Perhaps with a little convincing?" Lannie looked at Sheppard with a somewhat pleading look. He laughed. "I'll see what I can do, maybe the next time Teyla goes over I can convince Elizabeth that it'll be okay for you to go too. As big as this city is, I can understand you getting a little stir-crazy."

"We should get back. We have a meeting with Weir in a few minutes." Ronon spoke up. Lannie and Sheppard nodded, and the three took off back down the walkway to the main city.

Lannie got back to her room and collapsed onto her couch. She was tired, but not as much as she had been the week before when Dr. Beckett suggested that she start exercising in order to increase her muscle tone. He also hoped it would increase her appetite, which hadn't been as good as he had hoped since she left the infirmary. When Colonel Sheppard and his team had found her, Lannie had been incredible frail. Less than 100 pounds, Lannie remembered Beckett telling her. Apparently after almost a month of being awake she still hadn't gained that much weight. However, she did have to agree with the fact that exercising every day was making her appetite go up. Not to mention she enjoyed what she was doing. Running every morning with Ronon and John was always interesting, to say the least. She wasn't as fast as Ronon yet, but she was much faster than Sheppard, much to his chagrin. Sparring with Teyla was also helping Lannie with her endurance and speed. She had also met more people, including many Athosians. The Athosians, more so than anyone else, revered Lannie and held her in high esteem, because she was created by the Ancients. Lannie in turn respected the Athosians and was always asking Teyla questions about her people and their culture and traditions. She had already read through much of Earth's history and culture, and had people around her who were always willing to tell her about their home country and why it was so wonderful.

Lannie sighed and then went into the bathroom to change out of her running clothes. She pulled a robe on and then went over to her closet to find something to wear. For the most part she wore what had become a standard uniform of Atlantis, but today she decided on a pair of jeans and a nice top. She went into the bathroom and looked into her mirror. Ever since she had begun to spend time with Lt. Cadman, Lannie had learned a lot about her personal appearance. Lannie had long silky reddish brown hair with deep brown eyes and somewhat fair skin. She was about as tall as Teyla, and much shorter than Dr. Weir. Cadman was always telling her that she was very pretty and was always trying to get her to "dress up." Lannie smiled into the mirror. She either wore her hair in a braid or in what was referred to as a pony-tail. The other day Cadman had tried to convince her to wear her hair down, but Lannie had refused. For someone in the military, Lannie thought that Cadman could certainly act very much like a girl. She looked over at the counter next to her, recently covered with hair products and makeup given to her by Cadman and a few of the other women in the City. Even though she had all these products, Lannie never wore them. Maybe tomorrow, she always thought. She had just finished re-braiding her hair when there was a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" She called.

"It's Laura, I'm coming in, okay?" Lt. Cadman walked into the room as Lannie exited her bathroom. "Oh, you look so cute today! You look so good in jeans. I wish I could wear them sometimes instead of my uniform. Oh well. Are you hungry? I was just going to go to the Mess Hall and was wondering if you wanted to go."

"Yes, I just got back from a run and am very hungry. Let's go." Lannie smiled at her friend as they left her room.

The two girls finished getting their food and found a table. Lannie was listening to Cadman chat more about Earth that she thought Lannie would enjoy. "Now, you've tried the ice cream that we have here, but these flavors are generic. There are tons of ice cream shops with all different kinds of flavors other than Vanilla, Chocolate, and Strawberry. Like, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. There are pieces of raw cookie in the ice cream, its soo good. Oh, and Chunky Monkey, and Phish Food, and Cherry Garcia, such good stuff. Although I don't know if you'd like the chunky monkey, there's nuts in it and you're allergic, right?" Lannie nodded, eating her sandwich. "But that's okay. There are so many other foods out there. Ohh, so how are those movies I lent you? Do you like them? Most of the romantic ones are a bit of an exaggeration, with all the perfect happy endings and stuff. Life throws you a bit more curveballs than what you see in the movies. So what did you think?"

Lannie finished her sandwich and took a sip of her water. "I enjoyed most of the movies, however I didn't like the horror ones that much. But I enjoyed the romantic ones, as well as the action movies. I especially liked the Star Wars and the Lord of the Rings movies. Major Lorne watched the Lord of the Rings with me and explained a lot of it so I could understand. He's actually been quite informative whenever I have a question about a movie."

"Oh? Major Lorne watched the movie with you?" Cadman grinned wickedly at Lannie. "Yes. Why are you looking at me like that?" Lannie looked back at her puzzled.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just that it's interesting how you two spend a lot of time together. Just an observation." Cadman replied. "Is there something wrong with me spending time with the Major? He is just a friend, as you are. We spend a little more time with each other maybe than with others, but I have other friends as well that I spend time with. And I do not see him as often as you think. In fact, I have not seen him in a few days. And anyway, you spend a lot of time with Dr. Beckett when you are not on duty or on away missions." Cadman's face got red and she giggled. "Lannie, Dr. Beckett and I, well, let's just say that we're, um, a little more than just friends. And let's leave it at that. I'm glad that Lorne is your friend. It's good. Really." Cadman looked towards the door at an entering figure. "Speaking of, here he is now."

Lannie turned her head slightly and looked over at Lorne. He noticed her instantly, and a bright smile came over his face. Lannie smiled back, as Cadman chuckled to herself and muttered, "Yea right, just friends." Lannie turned and looked at her with a slight glare, which made Cadman giggle even more. Lorne quickly approached the table.

"Hey Lannie, Cadman, how are you two ladies doing today?" He looked down at Lannie, noticing the fact that she wasn't wearing a standard uniform. "You look nice, Lannie." She blushed slightly, and then said, "Thank you Major. And we are well, thank you for asking. Are you having lunch now? You're welcome to join us, right Laura?" She looked up at him, and then looked at Cadman for acknowledgement. Cadman nodded her head, a devilish grin on her face. "As much as I would love the company, I'm just grabbing something quick to eat before I have to go to a debriefing. I just got back from a day and a half away mission, so anything other than Powerbars are looking really good right now." He replied.

"Ah, that is why I haven't seen you in the last few days. How did your mission go?" Lannie asked him. "Interesting, to say the least. I've gotta get to the debrief though, so I've gotta go. Maybe I'll tell you over dinner?" Lorne looked at Lannie. She smiled. "If you are asking that I accompany you to dinner to hear your 'thrilling' story, then yes, I will see you at dinner. Have a good meeting." Lorne laughed at her comment. "Okay, I'll see you then. Cadman, I'll see you later. Lannie." Lorne nodded a goodbye to the both of them and then went over to grab some food. The two girls watched him leave the Mess with one last look over at their table. Cadman couldn't help starting to giggle again.

"Ooohh, you two are gonna be more than just friends pretty soon, Lannie, if he's inviting you for dinner and you're watching movies together. He even said you looked nice today, which you do. Most guys don't really notice what we're wearing unless they really like the girl. And you two have been pretty friendly for about a month, and if you remember that movie I lent you, a guy cannot just be friends with a girl, no matter if he says so or even what the rules of the military are." The two stood and grabbed their trays from the table. "Major Lorne and I are just friends. There is nothing more going on than that." Lannie said decisively as she put her tray away and started walking out the door. Cadman stood there for a moment shaking her head. "Tell me that in another week." She snickered, then left the Mess to catch up with Lannie.

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Thoughts? I think the next chapter will have a trip to the mainland, but we'll see what happens. Please Review!


	9. Visit to the Mainland

Author's Note: Ok, so this might be a bit more fluff, but it was fun to write, even if it took me 3 days to finish it. So without further ado, here's a visit to the mainland, complete with bonding, surfing, and more of Lorne's background. I hope it sounds good, I made most of it up according to what I thought would fit him. So, Read, Enjoy, and Review!

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"This is your Colonel Speaking, we are about ready to depart, so please keep your hands inside the Puddle Jumper, and because of inertial dampeners, we will NOT be experiencing turbulence. Thank you, and enjoy your ride to the mainland." Teyla smiled bemusedly as Lannie giggled slightly. "We're all set, sir." Lorne spoke up from the co-pilot's seat. "Alrighy then, let's get to the mainland before the surf goes out." Colonel Sheppard eased the Jumper out of the Bay and out into the bold blue sky. Lannie peered out over Lorne's shoulder at the sight of the City from the sky.

"Here, switch seats with me, I've seen it all already." Lorne stood up and Lannie quickly jumped into his previously occupied seat, her eyes never once leaving the City. "I can name every single dimension and the area the City covers, how many levels and wings, but this, the sight of it! Amazing." Lannie gushed. Sheppard grinned. "Yea, it's pretty cool." The City quickly disappeared from sight. "Colonel, thank you so much for talking Dr. Weir into letting me go to the mainland, I really appreciate it." Lannie couldn't help grinning from ear to ear. "It was no problem, kiddo. Dr. Weir sometimes just needs a little convincing. And I think it helped that your body guard over there said he'd go to." Sheppard turned to smirk at Lorne, who just sighed slightly irritated.

Teyla spoke up. "My people are very excited to be meeting you. The Athosians you have already met through training have said all good things about you to everyone." "I'm excited to meet your people, Teyla. I wish more would come and visit the City. It will be nice to thank them in person for the gifts they sent me." Lannie turned from Teyla to Colonel Sheppard. "Colonel, are you going to be very preoccupied with your surfing, or will you have time to maybe teach me a little?" "As long as you brought your bathing suit kiddo, I'm sure I can make some time to teach you. And hey, we're all off duty, so you can call me John now." Sheppard grinned and looked over at Lannie. "Lt. Cadman let me borrow a bathing suit, John, so I am very much prepared to enjoy the water. Are there trails through the wooded areas too? I really want to take a walk through them, I've never seen trees other than the few plants in the greenhouse in Atlantis. Actually, I'm just really excited to see everything!" Lannie gushed again, her eyes sparkling.

"Well, we're gonna be here for the whole day, so I'm sure you'll be able to do most of everything you want to do, Lannie. Don't worry." Lorne said, leaning forward in his seat. "Yes." Teyla said. "According to Dr. Zelenka, the weather today will be quite enjoyable. It is a good day to be visiting." They all sat in relative quiet for the rest of the trip, Lannie absorbing everything around her.

Soon, they reached what had become the landing pad on the mainland. "Okay folks, we're landing now, so please remain seated until we've completely touched down." Sheppard said, softly landing the Jumper. As soon as he had turned everything off, Lannie had jumped out of her chair and was grabbing her bag in the back of the Jumper. The three other people in the Jumper couldn't help but laugh at how excited she was. Lorne followed Lannie to the back as Sheppard and Teyla grabbed their things quickly and left the Jumper.

"You all ready?" He asked her. "Yes." Her reply was quick. She then looked at him. "You didn't bring a bag. What are you planning on doing all day? You do not need to be my bodyguard as John said. You should enjoy your day off."

"And who said I won't enjoy spending the whole day listening to you gush about every tree rock and plant in sight?" Lorne joked. Then he pulled something from one of his side pockets. "I have this, I'm all set." He held up his book to Lannie. She looked at the title quickly. "I read that the other day, did you take that from my room this morning when you came to get me?" Lorne only smiled as Lannie continued talking. "Are you sure that's all you want to do today, is read? Why don't you even have a bathing suit or something?" "Lannie, trust me, I'm all set. Don't worry." He looked into her eyes reassuringly. "Now come on, I'm sure there's a welcoming party waiting for you." Lannie looked back at him and nodded. The two walked out of the Jumper. They walked over to Teyla and Colonel Sheppard, who were already greeting two people who were there.

"There you are." Sheppard said. "Halling, this is Lannie. Lannie, this is Halling, and his son Jinto." Lannie smiled at the two. "I am very pleased to finally be meeting you. Teyla and even Colonel Sheppard have told me many wonderful things about you." Halling bowed his head. "It is a pleasure meeting you finally also, Lannie. Please, the village is just this way, and there are many who wish to meet you also." Lannie nodded and started following Halling into the woods towards the settlement.

"Okay folks, if you need me, I'll be on the beach. I'll stop by the village later to say hi to everyone." With that, Sheppard grabbed his bag and his surf board and took off the other way towards the beach. Lorne and Teyla followed Lannie and Halling into the woods.

The walk to the village was quick, with Lannie looking all around her in wonder as she asked Halling questions about the village and the people. When they got to the village, there were many people there to greet them. Lannie shied back a little, and Lorne stepped up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders reassuringly. "I thought you were excited about meeting the Athosians. I know that there are a lot of them, but you don't need to feel anxious, they're all nice. Trust me." Lannie looked up at him and smiled. Regaining her excitement, she stepped forward and Teyla and Halling began introducing her to the people. Lorne nodded to a few Athosians that he knew, then found a bench towards the outskirts of the village. Taking one last look at Lannie, who was busy smiling brightly and greeting everyone, he sat down and pulled out his book.

"Evan. Evan." Lorne blinked in the bright sunlight and shifted on the uncomfortable bench he found himself on. Looking up, he saw Lannie's face looking down on him. "Are you enjoying your reading?" She raised her eyebrows at him. Slowly, Lorne sat up. "Uh…I was trying to get comfortable, and I guess I fell asleep. How long have I been out?" He grimaced at a small pain in his back. Lannie giggled softly. "You have only been asleep for an hour or so. I figured you needed a little relaxation so I didn't come wake you up sooner. I hope that's okay."

"No, no, its fine. So, what are you up to? Finished visiting the Athosians already?" Lorne stood up and stretched, then reached down and grabbed his book which had fallen on the ground while he had been napping. "Yes, I really want to explore the area a little bit, and then go down to the beach so that Colonel Sheppard, whoops, I mean John, can teach me how to surf. Would you like to join me, or would you rather continue your nap?" "Nope, I'm all good. Why don't we walk over in the direction of the beach?" "Okay, but I do not want to take the paths that are already there. I want to explore the woods, and you can't do that by walking on a path already laid out for you. Let me just go get my bag and we can be off."

Lannie flashed him a bright smile and then quickly went over to where she had left her bag. Lorne watched her as she called to Teyla letting her know what they were doing, then turned back and rejoined Lorne. "Okay, all set. Shall we?" "Yup, let's go." The two then turned and entered the forest.

"So, Evan, have you 'trekked' through the forest before? I'm sure you probably have, in all your military training." Lannie walked through the brush with careful footings. Lorne followed easily behind her. "Oh yea. We had to do all sorts of woods training in basic, but the woods and I met long before I ever enlisted." Lannie looked at him puzzled. "I was a Boy Scout." He explained. She still looked at him confused. "It's this group of sorts that you can join when you're little, you go camping and learn about nature and build pinewood derby cars and learn how to use knives and stuff. And if you're stuck with really enthusiastic Troop Leaders, you get shipped off to Boy Scout Camp every summer for a week. I did it for a few years, then left and went to sports camp instead."

Lannie brightened when he mentioned sports. "Did you play football? I have found that I quite enjoy football. Colonel Sheppard showed me a few games while I was in the infirmary. He told me a bit about a few different sports. He even managed to get me a few videos of Hockey and Baseball. Don't tell him, but I think I enjoy Hockey a little more than Football. I mean, you get to skate around on the ice and hit, um, check, other players and shoot the puck around…" Lorne started laughing at Lannie's comments. "I think your secret's safe with me, Lannie. But no, I played Baseball mostly. Although I did wrestle for a season, but I didn't find it too interesting. What did you think of baseball?"

"Unless a player gets a hit, I find it to be a little boring. Or if there's an exciting play in the field. Otherwise it can become somewhat routine. Sorry." Lannie looked back at him apologetically as she continued walking through the trees. "Nah, it's okay. It's more fun when you're playing rather than just watching. I understand. Hey, you can see the water from here." Lorne pointed up ahead to where the trees dropped off, showing the ocean.

Lannie swiftly walked over to the place and stared at the sights around her. Lorne smiled, watching her take everything in. Sometimes he had to remind himself that she had never been out of Atlantis, and so never really got to experience this kind of thing. He had to admit, it was a pretty nice sight. The mainland went into the ocean not too far down from where Lannie was standing, and there were big rocks all around, the ones closer to the water covered with moss, but others very smooth and clean. The water was quietly lapping up against them. All around were small shrubs and brilliantly colored plants and flowers, and the tall trees gave good coverage from the high sun. Lannie sat down on the large rock closest to her, still gazing all around her.

"Have you ever seen a place such as this?" She breathed. Lorne walked closer to her and stood to the side of the rock looking out over everything. "Well, not this exactly, but similar. When I was a kid my grandparents had a summer house in New Hampshire, one of the States. It was on this lake, and I used to love going up there. The waves never got really big, and you could go fishing and swimming every day. There were islands you could take a canoe out to, and raspberries and blueberries everywhere. It was a great place to spend some time when I was little." He sat himself down on the other side of the rock from Lannie and looked into the forest. Lannie turned to him. "Tell me more about your family. You rarely speak of them, and I'm curious to know more."

Lorne laughed. "You don't want to know about my family. It's nothing that interesting." "Please, Evan." Lorne looked into Lannie's deep brown eyes, alert and engaged. He smiled. "Ok. You already know I have a sister, Becka, who's 24. Even though there's a bit of an age difference, we get along really well, and she's a great girl. I also have a brother who's in between me and Becka, his name is Andrew. He's 27, and he's an English Teacher. He got married recently too, a few months before I got here actually. And then there's my Mom and Dad. Mom was a teacher too, but now she only substitutes instead of teaching full time. Dad was in the Military too, but now he works for them doing consulting. I don't know what else, we were a normal family, we all got along, mostly because Dad was in the Military and so us kids we always on our best behavior. I played sports all during school, went to College on a Baseball Scholarship, Enlisted, worked at Stargate Command for a few years and now I'm here. That's about it." He studied Lannie's expression for a minute. She was staring at him intently, like he was telling her an incredible story.

"You are lucky to have such a wonderful family." Lannie said quietly. "Yea, I guess so. I can't complain too much. I know a bunch of my buddies in Basic were only there to get away from their families and do something different. I lucked out." He looked down at his watch suddenly. "Hey, we should get going, it's not too far to the beach, and we don't have that much time left before we need to be getting back to Atlantis. I know how much you wanted to learn how to surf. Come on." He stood and held a hand out to Lannie to help her off the rock. Taking one last look at the scenery, Lannie looked back at Lorne and took his hand. Standing, she said "Thank you, Evan, for telling me about your family. I enjoy learning new things about you." She smiled somewhat bashfully and looked down.

"It's nothing. Come on, we have to go through that underbrush over there to get back to the trail to the beach. Let's go." The two took off, not realizing they were still holding hands. Even if they did, neither of them minded. The walk to the beach was quiet, but comfortable. When they got to the edge of the trees where the beach started, Lannie dropped Lorne's hand and swiftly took off her shoes and walked down to the water, where Colonel Sheppard was standing with his surfboard.

"Perfect timing, the waves are just right for me to teach you. You have your suit on already?" Sheppard called to Lannie. "Yes, let me just drop my things off and I'll be ready. Lannie went over to somewhat shaded part of the beach and dropped her bag. She took off her t-shirt to reveal a navy blue one-piece bathing suit. She already had what Lt. Cadman had called 'Board Shorts' on, so she just fixed her ponytail and started walking back down to the water. "Major." She called out to Lorne, who was still by the beginning of the trail. "You don't mind watching my things, do you? I don't want an animal to take anything." Flashing a wide grin at him, she bounded down to the water, where Sheppard was laughing at Lannie's comment. Lorne smiled to himself, then went over to where Lannie's things were and sat down, pulling out his book again. What a day, he thought to himself, taking one last look at Sheppard teaching Lannie the fine art of surfing. Smiling again, he went back to reading his book.

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And there you go! Thoughts? I'm probably start paralleling this to the show in an chapter or so, and it'll probably be along with 'Conversion'. So, let me know what you think!


	10. Worries and Realizations

Disclaimer: Lannie is me. I mean mine. But if I were her I would totally be with Lorne. All the others belong to TPTB...damn them...

Summary: The Elder Weir isn't the only one found in a stasis chamber. What does this new person know, and how will her presence affect Atlantis and the Expedition team?

Author's Note: Okay, so after the last chapter I had no idea what I wanted to write, but here it is. I finally paralleled it with the show, and hopefully I did an okay job with that. This is also my 10th chapter, a feat which I am especially proud of, seeing as how many of my stories make it to a chapter and then I get a block and abandon them forever...But anyway, I hope this isn't too angsty again, and I know that a few Lorne lovers will possibly hate me for my ending, but it just keeps you wanting more! Anyway, I hope you like it, please read and review.

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"Man, I am exhausted." Major Lorne and Lannie were walking back towards their rooms after spending the day on the mainland. Lannie walked quietly beside him, tired as well. They quickly reached her room. Not even having to ask, Lorne followed her into the room and dropped onto the couch. "Did you have fun today Lannie?" He asked her as she put her bag away.

"Yes, I did. The Athosians are wonderful people. And surfing is fun, even though it is hard to master at first. And the mainland is quite amazing. All that life everywhere. The day was quite nice. What did you think?"

"I thought it was a good day. But then again, any day that I get to go on a mini-vacation I enjoy, so I can't really say much." Lorne smiled at her and leaned back into the couch.

"I am going to go change out of my bathing suit, so I will be back in here in a few minutes." Lannie went into her bathroom with a change of clothes. She quickly changed into a pair of pajama-type pants and a tank top. She pulled her hair out of its ponytail and brushed it out. "Evan, are you hungry? I believe that the Mess Hall is still open if you want to go get some food."

Lannie walked out of the bathroom re doing her hair and looked at Major Lorne. He had fallen asleep on her couch, and was snoring softly. Lannie smiled to herself. She quietly walked over to him. "Evan." She said softly. He didn't wake up, he just moved slightly and mumbled something incoherent. She smiled again at him, and then pulled a blanket out from a box next to the couch and draped it over him. "Sleep well, Evan." Lannie walked over to her own bed and set her alarm for early the next morning, then turned off the lights in the room with a single thought as she climbed into her bed. She closed her eyes with a smile still on her face, and drifted off to sleep quickly.

The next morning, Lorne awoke to an unfamiliar alarm sounding. He sat up, confused for a moment as to where he was. Blinking a few times and wiping his eyes with his hand, it only took another second to remember where he was; Lannie's room. The alarm suddenly turned off, and he looked over to the bed. Lannie was still half lying down in her bed, and had turned to look over at him.

"Good morning, Evan." She said bemusedly. "Hey." Was his reply. Sitting up on the couch sluggishly, he asked her, "I fell asleep here last night? Why didn't you wake me? And what time is it?"

"I tried to wake you, but you wouldn't wake up. So I let you stay here. I hope you don't mind. Oh, and it's 0600, by the way you tell time." Lannie had sat up in her bed and pulled her knees up, hugging them as she looked at Lorne. "Oh." He replied. He couldn't think of anything else to say. The last thing he knew was that he had taken his shoes off and relaxed on Lannie's couch while she went to go change in her bathroom, and then he was here now. "Well," he said, "I don't really have to be up for another hour because I have a meeting, but I guess I should get back to my own room though, huh?" He reached down to put his shoes back on.

"Well, actually you're meeting that you have at 8 is going to be cancelled, but I'm sure you'd rather go back to your own room. I suppose I will see you later today?" She looked at him as he finished getting his last shoe on. "It's going to be cancelled?" He raised an eyebrow at Lannie that was met with just a shrug. He stood up from the couch. "Well, even if that's so I should get going anyway, I'm still going to have to be up soon in case anyone needs me." He looked at Lannie somewhat apologetically and then started walking towards the door. Turning back to her, he smiled warmly. "I had a nice day yesterday. Maybe I'll stop by later and we can go get something to eat." Lannie nodded as Lorne raised his hand in a wave goodbye and left the room. Lannie stayed sitting up for a minute longer, then lay back down and tried to go back to sleep.

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Over the next few days Lannie and Lorne didn't really have time to spend together. Then again, neither did most of the people on Atlantis. All thoughts had turned to Colonel Sheppard as of late. He and his team had discovered a Wraith girl on a planet, and she had gotten hold of a retrovirus that Dr. Beckett had been working on and taken it, devolving her. She had attacked the Team and Sheppard had gotten cut by her, and some of the retrovirus had been transferred to him. It was now affecting him, almost devolving him also and turning him into a bug-type of creature. Carson had devised a possible way to reverse the virus, and so he along with Lorne, Teyla, McKay, Ronon, and two other soldiers were off trying to procure Iratus bug eggs.

Lannie sighed and looked up from the piece of Ancient technology she was working with. She had been sitting in the lab with Dr. Zelenka for the past 2 hours working with the device. Neither of them, however, were really paying too much attention to what they were doing. Lannie was worried about the Colonel, but at the moment she couldn't help but worry about Lorne. The team had been gone for about the same amount of time she had been in the Lab, and every moment she worried a bit more. Putting the Device down she looked over at Dr. Zelenka.

"Doctor, is it okay if I leave? I'm afraid I'm not being of much help right now." "Of course Lannie. Thank you for what you were able to do." Zelenka nodded at her. Lannie quickly left the Lab and walked towards the Control Room. Dr. Weir wasn't there, but the young Sergeant that Lannie had recently made friends with was there.

"Hello, Sgt. Do you know where Dr. Weir might be?" Lannie asked him. "Um, I think she went to go find Colonel Caldwell. She didn't look too happy when she left." He answered, and looked at Lannie. Lannie had recently met the Colonel, and although she respected his title, she did not completely trust him, and did not feel comfortable in his presence. She nodded at the Sergeant. "That's okay. I was just wondering where she was. Is there any news yet from Major Lorne's team?" Lannie asked him. "Not really. All I know is that they entered the cave a little while ago, and that's all we know. Sorry Lannie." He answered. "That's okay, thank you for telling me what you know. I hope we get some news soon." "Me too." Was his reply,and smiled at he as she walked away.

Lannie walked slowly back to her room. She wished she had been able to be more of a help, but her knowledge of the Iratus Bug was limited. It seemed for some reason the Ancients hadn't recorded a lot of data, only the bare essentials that one would need to understand the threat. Lannie entered her room and flopped down on her couch with a sigh. Her mind raced wit thoughts, not only of everything currently going on in Atlantis, but thoughts also of worry from everyone in the City. For some reason the collective emotion was very apparent to Lannie, and she could pinpoint which expedition member was thinking what at that precise moment. Her mind was also full of her own thoughts. She was worried greatly about Colonel Sheppard, but she felt somewhat selfish for thinking about Major Lorne. She was concerned greatly about the mission that he was on at the moment, and wished that he would get back soon and would come to see her.

Lannie paused her worrying for a moment. She pondered why she was so concerned with the Major. For some reason, she could not think of a word as to why. Yes, they were good friends, they enjoyed many meals together, and he watched movies with her, and he was always able to answer her questions about Earth or whatever else she desired to know about. She always felt comfortable in his presence, and all the thoughts in her mind, all the things going on around Atlantis that she knew about, seemed to be subdued whenever she spent time with him. She cared, she suddenly realized. Lannie had developed affection for Major Lorne. She realized that she enjoyed his company greatly and always wanted to spend time with him, and when he was happy it made her happier.

'I Like Him'. She thought to herself. She sat pondering this newest development in her life, so much so that she didn't hear her door open and someone enter. She only realized when someone put a hand on her shoulder. She startled and turned around to see who it was.

"Evan." She breathed. "You startled me." She looked at Lorne's face. He looked distressed, his face looked so much older, and he had fresh scrapes on his cheek. "What happened? Is everything okay?" Lannie reached out to Lorne's arm as he sank onto the couch next to her. He covered his eyes with his hand and sighed sadly. He rubbed his eyes and then stared off into space.

"The mission was a bust. I lost two of my guys, and we didn't even manage to get any of the eggs. And now I don't know what's going to happen. I just don't even know what to think. You should have seen those bugs Lannie. I'm not normally afraid of that kind of thing, but these things freaked me out. And then they started after us and they got my two guys, and I couldn't do anything to help them, so I had to throw in a grenade to keep the bugs in the cave. I had to call the mission. Just seeing the looks on everyone's faces…I couldn't even tell Dr. Weir, Carson went to tell her. I got out of the Infirmary, and I didn't know…I just ended up here." He finally looked over a Lannie.

Lannie's eyes had watered slightly, and she still had a comforting hand on his arm. Without thinking, he wrapped her into a tight hug. Lannie returned the hug, whispering, "I'm sorry." They said nothing else, just held each other.

Lorne sighed slightly. What was it about this girl that made him feel more at peace than anything else? He could sit talking to her all day and it would be the best day ever for him. I can't think this way, he thought to himself. I'm military. I have a job to do here, getting myself involved with her in anything else more than a friendship would jeopardize my job. Besides, she's been alive for what, 6 weeks? 7? She still doesn't even understand relationships. In fact, she doesn't even like all those romance movies Cadman gave her. Still, he couldn't help himself from holding her a little tighter.

The two finally pulled away from each other. Lannie looked back into Lorne's eyes. She knew what he was thinking, but she didn't quite know if she should talk to him about it. "Evan…"

"Lannie." He cut her off softly. She stared intently into his blue eyes. He gently took her hands in his own. She stared down at them, and then looked back at his face. "Lannie," he started again, "There's something I need to talk to you about. We've been spending a lot of time together lately, and I know that…" He was cut off suddenly by his radio blaring.

"Security Breach, Colonel Sheppard's Quarters." Dr. Weir's shaky voice came over the radio. "Major Lorne, we need you in the Control Room immediately." Came the voice of Colonel Caldwell. Sighing, he let go of Lannie's hand and activated his radio. "I'll be right there." He looked back at Lannie, who had folded her hands in her lap and was looking down, a stray strand of hair that had fallen from her braid covering her eyes. "Hey." He said, brushing the hair from her face. "I have to go, but you know that already." She nodded. "I'll be back soon, and then we can talk, okay? And stay put in here, I don't want anything to possibly happen to you." He lifted her head up so she was forced to look at him. "I know Evan. Go. Find Colonel Sheppard. I will be here." She smiled slightly at him. He smiled back at her, then got up from the couch and left the room.

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Thoughts? Do you like the way it's going? Don't worry, they'll get together...in a chapter or 2...but they will be together. Please review, any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated!


	11. A Pleasant Day Ruined

A/N: Okay, so this took me a while because I had an idea of what I wanted to happen, I just couldn't get it to come out right on 'paper'. So, here's some action for those who are bored with all my fluff, it's not really that gripping, but it's enough to get what I want to happen. So, I hope you enjoy, and please review!

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Once the Crisis was over with Colonel Sheppard, life on Atlantis started to become once again routine. Lannie continued to help Dr. McKay and Dr. Zelenka in the lab, and was even helping Dr. Beckett out in the infirmary. Teyla was continuing to teach her the art of stick fighting, and she had even been convinced to attend a girl's poker night by Lt. Cadman. Of course she was pestered with questions about her relationship with Major Lorne, but ever since the day in her room when Colonel Sheppard 'escaped' they hadn't talked much. They did still have the occasional meal, but the conversation was always light and about either the City or about Earth or about the latest mission the Major had been on. Lannie knew that he wanted to talk to her about what was going on between them, but he did not know how to approach it. Major Lorne was still mostly concerned with the no-fraternization rules, even if they seemed to be somewhat relaxed on Atlantis. Lannie did not bring up the subject either. She knew that she had feelings for him, however she was unsure of what to do, and the fact that every scientist in the City needed her help kept her from thinking about it too much.

It was a beautiful day outside, and Lannie had decided that she needed a day off to relax. She had gone to the South Wing of Atlantis and had found a nice balcony there with just the right amount of sunlight. She had brought a fold-up chair with her, along with a book, a bag with water and a few snacks, and an mp3 player, one of the gifts sent to her by the SGC the last time the Daedalus had made a trip. It seemed that one of the higher officials of the Stargate Program, a General Jack O'Neill, had heard about her and so had sent her what he called 'things every 20-something should have'.

She also now had an extensive wardrobe as well. She was wearing a light yellow tank top with a pair of jean shorts. She had tucked her new sandals under the chair. She also had a new pair of what was called sunglasses, which she put on so that she could read without being blinded. Her hair of course was up in a braid. Lannie set up her chair and settled down to enjoy her day. She pulled her radio out of her ear. She had been asking Dr. Weir to give her one, even though she knew what was going on around the city, just so that if anyone needed her they could call her directly instead of sending someone to find her. She had finally agreed the day before, and as much as Lannie enjoyed having it, she wanted her day to be completely uninterrupted. She happily opened up to the chapter she was reading, turned her music on, and immersed herself in the book.

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Major Lorne was not having a good day. He was off-world with Colonel Sheppard's team, and they had managed to encounter two Wraith Darts on the planet they were on. They were currently trying to keep out of sight of the Darts while at the same time trying to take them down, which wasn't an easy task when they only had their P-90s and handguns with them. It was at times like this that Lorne wished that he was allowed to take his grenade launcher on more missions. However, they were only there to meet with the locals and let Dr. McKay check out some ruins near the village that he believed to be Ancient, so he didn't have his toy. Keeping down, he was trying to help some of the villagers into one of the Jumpers they had brought with them. He was grateful for that at least. It was cloaked at the moment, which provided a good safe haven for the villagers, while the teams were doing what they did best; fight the Wraith.

"Colonel Sheppard, we have most of the villagers in hiding either in the Jumper or the ruins. Which I think McKay isn't too happy with, but he'll live. What are your orders now sir?" Lorne called to Sheppard over his radio.

"Ronon and I have one of the Darts in our sight and we're attempting to take it out, but get in the Jumper and be ready to take over for us if we miss, we're gonna come down and get everyone else then head back to Atlantis." Came the Colonel's reply. He and Ronon were in the other Jumper attempting to take the Darts out, which was proving to be a difficult task for some reason.

"Yes Sir." Lorne said, then ran towards the Jumper. Two of his team members crouched by the cloaked entrance, covering him in case one of the Darts made a pass over the area. He entered the Jumper and made his way through the villagers to the front of the ship. His teammates entered the Jumper just as he closed the door.

"Okay folks, get settled in, we're gonna take off and cover for the Colonel so he can get everyone else. We're gonna try to stay cloaked so that the Darts don't fire on us, but hang on to something." With that, he eased the Jumper off of the ground. "Colonel, we're in the air, and I've got a lock on your position. I've also got one of the Darts in my sight."

"Don't fire on it until we've touched down. I don't need to be hit in any crossfire Major." Sheppard replied, as he quickly eased the Jumper around and started to settle down in the same place Lorne's Jumper had been moments before. Lorne flew the Jumper towards the Dart and locked onto it. He fired quickly, and the Dart blew up in a ball of fire. "One down, one to go." He said to himself, looking to the scanner to tell him where the other Dart was. Suddenly, the Jumper was rocked by something. A few of the villagers cried out in panic.

"It's okay everyone. Nothing to worry about." Lorne quickly assessed what had happened. The other Dart had come up on his side and grazed the Jumper, and now the cloak was gone.

"Major, you dropped your cloak, what's happening?" Colonel Sheppard called over the radio.

"The other Dart sent off a shot that grazed us, and I lost the cloak. I think I still have everything else though." He quickly answered, maneuvering out of the Dart's line of fire.

"Start heading for the 'Gate, we've just about got everyone and we'll be in the air in a minute. Meet you back at Atlantis."

"Understood Sir. See you there." With that, Lorne flew towards the Stargate and activated the DHD. He quickly sent his IDC, then flew through the event horizon. Dr. Weir was standing on the balcony with an anxious look on her face. "Major, what's going on? She radioed to him as the Jumper went into the Bay on Autopilot.

"Wraith Darts, ma'am. Colonel Sheppard should be behind in a few minutes, but I wouldn't keep the Gate open." He answered. "We also have some refugees." He told her.

"Alright," she said. "Get back to the Control room ASAP."

"Yes ma'am." He answered, as the Jumper stopped and turned off. He turned to his teammates. "You guys take care of our new guests, I'm gonna go to the Control Room." They nodded, and he took off out of the Bay.

Lannie was halfway through her book when she sensed something wasn't right. She closed her eyes and scanned her mind to see what the problem was, and immediately put her radio in her ear as she realized there was an unscheduled off-world activation. She caught the very end of Dr. Weir's conversation with Major Lorne, and she immediately jumped out of her chair, and putting her sandals on quickly she took off towards the Control room. Whatever was happening she needed to know the City was alright. She entered the Control Room to people scrambling around and the shield up over the Gate. She stood back for a minute, as she watched Major Lorne hurry over to Dr. Weir as she stood waiting for Colonel Sheppard to radio in.

"Dr. Weir, it's Sheppard, we're headed your way, but we're coming in hot. Two more Darts appeared out of nowhere, and they somehow managed to catch on to us." Sheppard called.

"Understood, Colonel. All nonessential personnel leave the Gateroom immediately." A flurry of people ran out of the exits. "Lower the Shield." Weir said to the Technician at the controls. Just then Lorne looked around and caught sight of Lannie, who had moved over to a console.

"Lannie, you shouldn't be here. Go. Everything's fine." He yelled at her. She gave him a cold look and started working on the console. Dr. Weir heard Lorne and looked over at Lannie and started to say something also, but at that moment the Jumper came through the Gate and so she looked away. The Jumper hadn't been fully materialized for two seconds when two Dart Blasts came through the Gate, hitting a wall and damaging it.

"Shut it down!" Weir shouted, and with that the Shield went back up and the Gate shut down. The Jumper slowly started its ascent into the Bay, and all the personnel still in the Control room went back to their consoles. Dr. Weir let out a heavy sigh and looked over at the charred wall. She was about to say something when Lorne gave a yell and raced over to where a small figure lay crumpled on the floor.

"LANNIE!" He fell down to the floor and pulled Lannie to him. She looked up at him, her eyes filled with tears and partially glazed over.

"Evan…" she breathed, and then looked down at her stomach. He followed her gaze, and saw that she was wounded and bleeding fairly badly. "Call a medical team!" He yelled, and then looked back down at her. Brushing some hair away from her face, he tried to control his emotions. "Hey, you're gonna be okay, Dr. Beckett will be here in a minute, and he'll take care of you. Stay with me Lannie. You'll be alright." She gasped slightly for breath, in obvious pain, and reached out with her right hand. He curled his own right hand under her, holding her up, and his left hand held onto her right hand. He looked down into her eyes comfortingly, whispering calming things to her.

Dr. Beckett flew into the Control room followed by some nurses with a gurney. "Major, what happened?" He asked, dropping down next to him and lifting Lannie's shirt above the wound to get a better look at it.

"I have no idea, all I know is that two Dart Blasts came through the Gate and hit that wall, and then all of a sudden Lannie collapsed." Lorne replied.

"Okay, all I know is that we need to get her to the infirmary. Can you help me lift her gently onto the gurney?" Dr. Beckett asked, realizing that Lorne wasn't going to let go of Lannie easily. He nodded, and the two gently placed her on the stretcher. Lorne continued to hold Lannie's hand, as she stared around her in pain, her breath ragged.

"Okay, Major, we've got to move now, so you can follow us to the infirmary if you want, but we're probably going to get her right into surgery to make sure there's no internal damage and to stop the bleeding." Dr. Beckett said. He looked over at Colonel Sheppard and his team, who were just entering the Gateroom. "I think for now you might want to stay here and inform the Colonel of what happened. I'll let you know when she's out of surgery." With that, Carson started pushing the stretcher away, yelling orders to the nurses who scrambled beside him out of the Room, leaving Lorne standing there watching them and a confused flagship team and Dr. Weir behind him.

----------------TBC---------------------

Thoughts? The next chapter will explain a little more about why Lannie got hurt, as well as a possible confession from one very concerned Major? Please review!


	12. Conflict and Amazement

A/N: Okay, so let's now enter the mind of Major Lorne, I hope you enjoy the conflict. I can't say much else, you'll just have to read and be surprised!

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Major Lorne walked into the briefing room seemingly on autopilot. He sat down in the chair closest to the doors as Colonel Sheppard, Teyla, Ronon, McKay and Dr. Weir also sat down around him.

"So does anyone want to tell me what happened after we came through the Gate?" Sheppard asked, looking around the room. Dr. Weir glanced over at Major Lorne, who shook himself out of his daze to answer.

"We evacuated all nonessential personnel, but Lannie refused to leave. Anyway, you came through the Gate, and right before we could raise the shield two Dart blasts came through and hit the wall. The Jumper had already started going up to the Bay so you probably didn't see it. Anyway we managed to shut the Gate down, but as soon as that happened I saw Lannie take a step away from the console she was behind holding her stomach, and then she collapsed." Lorne stopped his recount of the events and went quiet. Dr. Weir finished up.

"Dr. Beckett is working on her right now, but I want to know how she got injured in the first place. There were no console overloads, and she wasn't anywhere near the wall that got damaged. I can't understand why she was injured."

"Well," Sheppard said, "I guess we have to wait for Carson's assessment and maybe even Lannie to tell us what happened. Okay folks, I think that right now we have to take care of all of our new guests that we brought with us. Teyla, do you think they would mind living on the mainland with the Athosians, or should we find them another planet?"

"We have been friends with these people for many years. I believe that given the circumstances and the increasing Cullings they would want to stay with my people. I will extend the invitation to them and alert Halling about the situation." With a slight nod of her head Teyla stood from the table. "Please let me know of Lannie's condition when you hear anything from Dr. Beckett. I'm sure that many people will be praying for her when word gets out." With that, Teyla left the room.

"Okay." Dr. Weir said. She looked over at Lorne. "Major, are you alright to continue your work, or do you need time off?"

"No, Ma'am, I'm fine to continue working. It's just a bit of a shock. I'm fine." Lorne sat up straighter and stated with conviction. Dr. Weir's eyes softened.

"Even so, Major, I'm giving you the rest of the day off. I'm sure that when Lannie wakes up you'll be the first person she wants to see, and I think you should be there for her. However, I'd go put on a change of clothes before you go down to the infirmary." Lorne looked down at his jacket, which had some of Lannie's blood on it. He gave an embarrassed half smile. "Okay, if there's nothing further, I should go introduce myself to our new friends and get everything situated. Dismissed." Weir stated as she stood from the table. She, Ronon, and McKay left the room, McKay muttering about checking the console Lannie was at to make sure she hadn't broken anything, but Colonel Sheppard stayed behind. He cast a sideways glance at Lorne.

"You sure you're okay?" He asked. "Yes Sir." Lorne answered. "I just wasn't expecting anyone to get injured, especially Lannie. She just wouldn't leave when I told her to get out. She glared at me, Sir. It was a little unnerving, I've never seen her like that before."

"Well, Beckett's a good doctor, she'll be fine. Go change, I'll make sure Carson radios you when she's out of surgery." With that, Sheppard left the room. Lorne sighed and followed him out.

Lorne entered his room and stood there, looking around absently. His mind was swimming with thought of everything that had happened today, and of course of Lannie. All he knew was that she was in surgery. He gave a quick prayer that she would be okay and that the injury wasn't that bad. He gingerly took off his jacket, holding it in front of him staring at the blood on it. He went into the bathroom and began washing it vigorously. Halfway through his attempt at cleaning he stopped and banged his fist against the side of the sink.

"Dammit!" He yelled. Gripping the sides of the sink with both hands, he stared down at the jacket. Exhaling sharply, he looked back up at himself in the mirror. "Some kind of military man you are Evan." He said to himself. "Can't even keep your own feelings in check for Ten minutes. Now you're going to have to explain yourself and why you reacted that way. Ten minutes." He shoved off from the sink and left the jacket lying there. He went back into his main room. He changed out of the rest of his gear and put a new pair of pants and a t-shirt on.

Flopping himself down on his bed, he sighed in frustration again. "You can't help yourself, you care about her. Seeing her lying there like that scared you. You can't bear to lose her, you only just started getting closer to her, and you know that she feels something towards you too." A small voice in the back of his mind came through to him.

He sighed slightly once again. The thought was right. He did have feelings for Lannie, but what would happen? He was military. Second in command and sought after because of the ATA gene. And she was, well, innocent. And true, not military, although being the Voice of Atlantis made her a little more special than everyone else. And furthermore, she hadn't even been around for three months yet. As much as she had adapted to living with everyone, she was still unsure sometimes of how things were and of the way people said things. Plus gossip spread like wildfire in a small community like Atlantis. They would be notorious for being the first real 'couple'. He shook that thought out of his head. 'I'm thinking about having a relationship with a girl who's under the knife right now, and who knows that I care about her but that Rules and Regulations are getting in the way of me telling her. I am not being smart about this situation at all.' He thought to himself. But he couldn't help it.

His thoughts drifted back to the trip to the mainland. Seeing Lannie standing there between the trees, looking out onto the water…that was the moment he realized that she was more than just a friend. At that moment she had been so full of life, and awe, and it radiated off of her and made him feel so at ease, like there wasn't a worry or a threat like the Wraith or even the Goa'uld in the universe. Then he thought of their almost conversation in her room when Sheppard was going through his "bug-phase". They were so close at that moment, and he had been plagued by so many conflicting feelings. It was almost a good thing that he had been called to join the search party at that moment, because he didn't know if they would have been able to have the right conversation about everything that was going on between them. 'I guess it all comes down to talking to Lannie, whenever she's ready to have this conversation. But it's gotta happen sooner or later. Freakin' elephant in the room.'

"Major Lorne." Carson's voice came over the radio. "Yes?" He quickly answered. "I just wanted to let you know that Lannie is out of surgery. If you want to come down…"

"I'm on my way Doc." Lorne answered quickly, getting up from his bed and heading towards the infirmary. Entering the infirmary a few minutes later, his eyes scanned around the room. A few nurses were working around the room, and his eyes caught onto Dr. Beckett leaving a screened-off area. Beckett saw Lorne immediately.

"Ah, Major. I figured you would be down here quickly. I have to say, Lannie is one special girl. Come over here." Carson moved back towards the curtain and Lorne followed him. Lannie was lying there on the bed sleeping, with an IV hooked up and a monitor softly beeping. Lorne chuckled softly. "She's not going to like that needle you have in her Doc. I think she'll be more upset about that than the fact that she just had surgery." Lorne sat down next to her and looked her over, feeling a little awkward.

Carson laughed also. "I can only imagine the fit she's going to throw when she wakes up. But oh well. So, the wound wasn't too deep, although we did have to do some muscle repairs. She lost a large patch of skin, and we managed to graft some skin back onto the area, but it's still open a bit. The wound was also on the side of her right abdominal muscle, so her stomach area wasn't injured, although it's not in a comfortable spot. However, she's pretty tough, so she'll heal nicely, but it might take a while." Carson checked on her vitals as he was saying all of this to the Major.

"Do we know what caused this yet Carson?" Dr. Weir's voice came from the entrance to the area. Behind her stood Colonel Sheppard.

"Ah, Dr. Weir, Colonel. Honestly, I don't know. I'm hoping that when Lannie wakes up she'll be able to tell us what happened. Other than that, it's all just speculation." Dr. Beckett shrugged apologetically and left the area. Lorne looked over at Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard. Weir nodded at him silently and turned to follow Carson, and Sheppard did the same. Breathing a sigh of relief, Lorne turned back to Lannie. Now that they were alone, he reached out and held onto her hand.

"Hey you." He said softly. "Beckett says you're gonna be fine, but it might take a while for you to heal. I'll be there to help you, so don't worry." He paused and looked into her face. "I'm not going anywhere."

He sat there in the silence, the monitor the only thing making noise. He gently rubbed her hand and watched her sleep. Soon, she started waking up. She coughed slightly, and slowly opened her eyes.

"Hey." Lorne moved closer to her so that she could see him without moving. "How are you feeling?"

"Evan." Her breath was raspy. Her eyes slowly scanned the area, then came back to meet his. "I'm guessing I had surgery?" She asked. He laughed softly, squeezing her hand a bit. "Yea, Carson said he fixed you up as best he could." Her eyes glanced down quickly to her arm. She quickly looked up at the ceiling. "Is that a needle in my arm?" She asked. Lorne smiled. "Yea, I'm afraid that it is. You okay with that, or do I need to get Carson over here?" Lannie breathed out slowly. "Get it out." She said grimly. She looked back into Lorne's eyes.

"Okay. In a minute." He reached up and brushed a piece of hair out away from Lannie's face. "You gave me quite a scare, Lannie. Don't do that to me again, got it?"

Lannie looked at him somewhat quizzically. Then her eyes softened, and she squeezed his hand. "I promise. Just make sure that Atlantis doesn't get hit by any more Wraith blasts that end up damaging the city. Can you get Dr. Beckett now?" Lorne looked at her puzzled at what she had said, then nodded. "I'll go get him now. Sit tight. Don't look at your arm, its as if it's not even there." Reluctantly letting go of her hand, Lorne stood and went to the entrance of the curtain.

"Hey, Doc, Lannie's up and wants the IV out NOW." He called. Dr. Beckett hurried over with Weir and Sheppard in tow. He entered the curtain and started a quick exam of Lannie. "How are you feeling, Lassie? Are you sure you want the IV out? It's giving you pain medication."

"I'll just take a pill, thank you. Now if you don't mind." Lannie grimaced as Dr. Beckett gently removed the IV line. "All set. Now, if you don't mind I want to check on your wound and maybe change the dressing. Is that okay, even with everyone here?" He asked her kindly.

"It's okay. It's only my stomach." Lannie replied, and smiled over at Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard. "Hello Dr. Weir, Colonel. I'm sorry about all of this."

"Lannie, do you know what happened?" Dr. Weir asked gently. Lannie nodded. "The Wall got damaged, and then all of a sudden I had this incredible pain in my side, and when I looked down…well, you know the rest." Colonel Sheppard went to say something, but was cut off by a gasp from Carson.

"What is it Doctor?" Asked Lorne. Carson stared at Lannie's injury, then looked up amazed at everyone else.

"It's her wound. It's half the size it was before."

"What do you mean Carson?" Sheppard asked.

"It's healing. On its own." Was Beckett's reply.

-------------------TBC-------------------

Thoughts? What's going on with Lannie? Please review!


	13. Confessions and a Beginning

Disclaimer: I can wish on an infinite number of stars, but Major Lorne will not be mine. Neither will John Sheppard, or Simon Tam, or Greg Sanders, or...Well, let's just say that higher powers own all of the ones in this story except for Lannie.

Author's Note: Okay, so Here it is! Moment of Truth! The Moment you've all been waiting for! I backtracked slightly and it's mostly now from Lannie's point of view, but there's a reason for that. And let me say, I really enjoyed writing this chapter, all the Lorne stuff I can just see him saying if there were ever a chance...but I digress. I really hope you all enjoy it, and thank you to all those who have been reviewing, I really appreciate it.

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Lannie could hear the heart machine beeping softly before she was even fully awake. She lay there with her eyes closed for a moment, trying to recall what had happened. Slowly everything came back to her. She could feel a sore area on her right side where the wound had appeared. Her left hand, for some reason felt very warm. She moved slightly and coughed as she opened her eyes to see what it was.

"Hey." There right in front of her was Major Lorne. His blue eyes were showing such care and concern in them, and he had light worry wrinkles around them. "How are you feeling?" Lannie could sense, feel even, everything that Lorne was thinking about. He was so happy that she was awake, and that she had come out of surgery alright. She could vaguely recall hearing him in a dream telling her he wouldn't be going anywhere. She smiled at that, and then responded. "Evan." She looked around her to see if there was anyone else there. Her eyes came back to meet his again.

"I'm guessing I had surgery." "He laughed softly, squeezing her hand a bit. "Yea, Carson said he fixed you up as best he could." She could feel the compassion flowing from his hand into hers as he squeezed it lightly. Then she thought quickly, she had been in surgery, which meant….her eyes glanced down quickly to her arm. Yes, there was an IV. Didn't Dr. Beckett understand that she hated needles? She quickly looked up at the ceiling. "Is that a needle in my arm?" She asked. Lorne smiled. "Yea, I'm afraid that it is. You okay with that, or do I need to get Carson over here?" Lannie breathed out slowly. "Get it out." She said grimly. The sooner it was out the calmer she would be, no matter the fact that Lorne holding her hand was very calming. She looked back into Lorne's eyes. The worry had disappeared slightly, but he was still concerned.

"Okay. In a minute." He said. He reached up and brushed a piece of hair out away from Lannie's face. She felt herself blush slightly, and looked again at Lorne. "You gave me quite a scare, Lannie. Don't do that to me again, got it?"

Lannie looked at him somewhat quizzically. He was scolding her for making him worry? Then she realized the reason why. He was afraid that he was going to lose her, and he didn't want that.

"I promise. Just make sure that Atlantis doesn't get hit by any more Wraith blasts that end up damaging the city. Can you get Dr. Beckett now?" She noticed the puzzled look she got from what she had said, but Lorne squeezed her hand and went to go get Beckett. Lannie watched him leave, and then looked back up at the ceiling. She knew that she was going to be questioned as soon as the doctor got there. She was fairly certain that Dr. Weir was waiting there as well as Colonel Sheppard. She could sense their worry for her, but they also wanted answers. Hopefully they would be able to understand what she had to tell them.

Dr. Beckett hurried in, followed by Lorne and also Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard as she had expected. Lorne sat down again by her, but didn't take her hand again. 'So afraid of the rules' she thought to herself.

"Are you sure you want the IV out? It's giving you pain medication." Dr. Beckett was saying to her. Lannie gave him a stern look.

"I'll just take a pill, thank you. Now if you don't mind." Her eyes went back to the ceiling and she grimaced as he gently removed the IV. "All set. Now, if you don't mind I want to check on your wound and maybe change the dressing. Is that okay, even with everyone here?" Lannie nodded. "It's only my stomach." Then she looked over at Dr. Weir and Sheppard. Time to answer their questions, she thought.

"Hello Dr. Weir, Colonel. I'm sorry about all of this." She watched as they both smiled a little at her, the Dr. Weir asked, "Lannie, do you know what happened?"

Lannie nodded. "The Wall got damaged, and then all of a sudden I had this incredible pain in my side, and when I looked down…well, you know the rest." Colonel Sheppard went to say something, but was cut off by a gasp from Carson.

"What is it Doctor?" Asked Lorne. Carson stared at Lannie's injury, then looked up amazed at everyone else. Lannie was confused about what he was shocked at.

"It's her wound. It's half the size it was before." Was Beckett's reply.

"What do you mean Carson?" Sheppard asked.

"It's healing. On its own." He said.

All eyes turned back to Lannie. She looked down at her own stomach, and true enough, the wound seemed to have started closing quickly. She didn't even hear the conversation going on around her. 'I guess I have another ability.' She thought. Suddenly she heard a question being addressed to her.

"Lannie, are you alright? Do you think you can explain any of this?" Lannie looked from Dr. Beckett, who was busy inspecting the wound and hurriedly checking her charts, to Colonel Sheppard, who seemed somewhat impressed, to Dr. Weir's questioning look, and then to Major Lorne, who was sitting back in the chair staring at her. At that moment he didn't know what quite to think. It seemed that every day he was finding out something new about Lannie, and she knew that it would take him a minute to process everything.

Looking back to Dr. Weir, she said, "I am fine. I have no idea why I am healing quickly. Perhaps it is another ability. We already know that I know the layout of the city and can read and speak Ancient as well as some other things. And Dr. Beckett did confirm that I had the Ancient Database in my mind, and as the report that you let me read about General O'Neill stated that when he had the Database he was able to heal the Jaffa Bra'tac, so is it possible that because of the data I can heal myself somehow?" Dr. Weir thought about it for a moment.

"It is very possible." She finally said. "Dr. Beckett, do you think that's what's going on?" Dr. Beckett looked once more at Lannie's information. Looking back up, he said, "Aye. It's quite possible. Lannie's last brain scan showed even more brain activity than the last one we did, which could explain all of her abilities. Actually," he said, looking at her charts again quickly, "I think I might have a more valid hypothesis, but I want to run a few more tests before I can be sure." He looked over at Lannie. Lannie felt a sense of dread come over her.

"No. No more needles. I am fine with more tests, I don't care, just no more needles." She shook her head firmly. Dr. Beckett sighed and smiled at her slightly. "Well I guess it's a good thing that we took some blood while you were asleep. I can use that." Slightly smirking at Lannie again, Carson looked back at Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard.

"I'm going to start running those tests, and I'm going to look over all of her medical history. I'll hopefully be able to explain everything soon." Dr. Weir nodded. She then looked at Lannie. "Why don't we leave you to rest a bit." She smiled at her again and then turned and left the room. Colonel Sheppard winked at Lannie and then followed suit.

Lannie sighed heavily and leaned back more into her pillow. She stared into space for a minute, then slowly turned her head to look over at Major Lorne. She smirked slightly, and then asked him, "Is it possible for you to be feeling any more confusion at this moment?" He looked up at her incredulously, then stood up and started pacing next to her bed. He finally turned to look at her. Giving her a half smile, he said,

"You are just full of surprises, aren't you? First, you have the Ancient Gene, but it's better than anyone else's. Then you know all about the City, can name different areas and what lab is best used for which science. And then you can sense things, and hear things that are going on in the City. Then we find out that you have the Ancient Database stored in your head. And now you can heal yourself from a wound given to you because the Control Room got damaged?" He paced around a little more.

"Well, I am connected to the City. I mean, I get headaches from the different experiments Dr. McKay and Zelenka run, so it's fitting that I would be wounded because the Control Room got hit." Lorne stared at Lannie. She laughed quickly. "I was being slightly sarcastic, Evan. I'm finding things out at the same rate you are. It's funny, I know all these things about technology and about Atlantis, but I know next to nothing about myself." She shifted in her bed slightly and patted the empty space. "Please stop walking around like that, you are just going to wear a hole in the floor."

Major Lorne laughed at her comment, and went and sat down on the bed facing Lannie. "Who are you?" He joked. Lannie smiled back at him. "I think that's what Carson's trying to find out right now." They both laughed, Lannie wincing slightly and adjusting her side a little. Concern came back over Lorne's face.

"Does it hurt, do you need me to go get you some meds?" He asked, looking intently at her. "No." She answered. She looked down to her stomach. "It's interesting, it only feels a little sore. And it itches a little. But it doesn't hurt." She looked back up at Lorne. "Stop worrying about me. You'll get wrinkles too early in life." Lorne grinned and laughed at her comment. "I'll have you know that I look pretty darn good for my age, thank you very much, considering what I've seen her in Atlantis and when I was at the SGC." He leaned in closer to her and smirked at her as he said this. Lannie grinned back. "If you say so." She started giggling at his look of mock anger. Still laughing somewhat, he reached down and took Lannie's hand again. Lannie smiled again and looked back at Lorne. He smiled back down at her.

"Hey," he said softly, "can I talk to you seriously for a minute? I kinda want to reopen something that we started earlier. You know what I'm talking about?" Lannie nodded. Lorne looked down at the bed for a moment, then looked back into Lannie's eyes. "When you were in surgery, I started thinking about a lot of things. You really got me worried about you when you got hurt, and well, my thoughts kinda got the better of me. But there's something that was pretty clear in my mind." He looked deeper into Lannie's eyes. "We've gotten really close since I escorted you to your room in the beginning. We've spent a lot of time together, and we got to be really good friends." He paused for a moment. "But when you got hurt, my concern wasn't just friendly."

Lannie watched as Lorne's eyes turned a more brilliant blue as he continued to talk. She knew that he needed to talk about this with her, and that in truth it couldn't wait for any other time.

He started again. "My concern was more, well, powerful. And when I was in my room while you were here, I really thought about why. And the thing is Lannie, I like you a fair bit more than just a friend. And that's where I guess I'm conflicted. I get the sense that you feel something similar towards me too," Lannie blushed and smiled awkwardly as he said this, "and the truth is I don't know what to do about this. About anything. I mean, it's not exactly off limits, you're not military, so the rules don't come into play, however you're, well, you." He smiled with slight embarrassment. "And because of that, I don't know what to do. And then there's the fact that this is a whole new experience for you. And even though you've seen those sappy romance movies that Cadman gave you, you've never experienced it for yourself yet. And because of that, I'm cautious about anything happening. Especially because, well, let's face it, Atlantis may be big in size, but rumors and gossip spread like wildfire around here. And I don't want to put you through that."

Lorne sighed and took a deep breath before he continued. "So, like I said I'm a little conflicted, but here's my bottom line. I don't want you as just another friend, Lannie. I want us to be something more. We have this great connection and we really understand each other. I really care about you and I'm interested in seeing where this goes. So, now I leave it to you. What do you think we should do?" Lorne held onto Lannie's hand tightly.

Lannie broke away from his intense gaze for a moment to process everything he had just said. She had been expecting something like this ever since their failed conversation in her room that time, but actually finally having it was a bit surreal. She already knew that she cared for Lorne, and hearing him say he felt the same gave her a feeling of happiness she had never experienced before. She thought about what Lorne had said. It was true that she had obviously never been in a situation like this before, and so everything would be new and uncharted, however she had a feeling that Lorne would be patient and be there for her. And from the way she had seen people smirking at them whenever they had a meal together in the Mess she knew that there were already rumors about them floating around. Lannie turned back to Lorne's expectant gaze, and smiled at him.

"I am also interested in seeing what may happen between us, Evan. I have a feeling that it will be something very good. And I'm excited for it. So, my answer to you is how about we take this, as you say, one day at a time? Of course, for the moment we should attempt to keep this quiet. There is enough speculation about us already." Lorne's face broke out into a huge grin. He couldn't help it. "Great. That sounds good to me." He managed to get out, as he brought his hand forward and gently brushed the side of her face. They sat in comfortable silence for a little while longer, smiling broadly at each other. Soon they heard footsteps and Lorne pulled his hand away from Lannie's face.

"Alright, Lannie, how are you feeling, okay? Do you need any pain medication?" Dr. Beckett came back into the room. He blinked quickly at the sight of Lorne sitting on Lannie's bed, but he didn't say anything.

"I feel fine, Dr. Beckett. And the wound is just a little sore, like I pulled a muscle." Lannie replied. Lorne stood up from the bed and made way for Carson to check Lannie's vitals quickly. He never once took his eyes off of her.

"Well, Lass, your vitals are good, but I still want to keep you here overnight tonight just in case. And that way I can also monitor your injury and its healing rate. You'll most likely be able to leave tomorrow."

"That is good to hear, Dr. Beckett, thank you. How is your theory coming?" Lannie asked him. He sighed slightly. "It might take a little while, I need to be positive before I talk to Dr. Weir about it. Don't worry, you find out soon, I promise." He smiled reassuringly at her. "Now, I think it's time you get some rest, I know today has been quite eventful for everyone." Sending a look in Major Lorne's direction he nodded at Lannie and left the area. Lannie looked back over at Lorne. "I guess it's time for you to get going, we don't need the doctor getting angry." She smiled. He moved closer and leaned in over her.

"I guess so." He said. He reached out to touch her face again and leaned in closer to her. Gently he kissed her forehead. Only inches apart from each other, they locked eyes. "I'll come back tomorrow to bring you back to your room, okay?" He asked her. Lannie smiled and nodded slightly. Lorne took one more caring look into her eyes, then drew his hand away and with one more glance, moved away from her and out of the door. The scientists that he passed by on the way back to his quarters had to stop and stare after him. No one had ever seen Major Lorne smile as brightly as he was at that moment. And no one saw Lannie's ear-to-ear grin either as she adjusted herself in her bed before falling asleep.

-------------TBC---------------

Thoughts? I'm really excited about this chapter and I hope you all love it as well. Please review!


	14. Semi Intimate Moments

Author's Note: WARNING! TOTAL AND UTTER FLUFF! Lol, I just couldn't help myself, so this chapter is really cutesy. Even so, I do hope you enjoy!

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"Okay Lannie, I'm going to release you, however I don't want you walking around too much, you might aggravate what's still left of your injury. It has healed quite a bit, but it's still in a precarious spot, so take it easy." Lannie nodded at Dr. Beckett's stern instructions. She was sitting on the edge of her bed having carefully changed out of the scrubs she was wearing earlier to a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt that Major Lorne had brought her to wear out of the infirmary. The Major was standing near Lannie, ready to bring her back to her room.

"I just have one quick stop to make before I return to my room, Doctor, and then I will relax for the rest of the day. I promise." Lannie flashed Beckett a smile and eased herself off of the bed. She winced slightly as she put pressure on her right side, and Lorne immediately grabbed hold of her to ease her weight. She smiled up at him, but managed to start walking slowly out of the room on her own. Lorne nodded towards Dr. Beckett and followed closely behind Lannie out of the infirmary. Once they had left the infirmary Lorne quickly caught up to walk besides Lannie, a gentle hand on her back in case she needed any help.

"So, where do we need to go first?" He asked her. Lannie smiled up at him. "I left some of my things on a balcony yesterday, and I need to go get them before anyone finds them." Lorne smiled back. "Lead the way." They entered a transporter and Lannie pressed a spot on the South Wing very close to where her things were. In an instant they were there, and there was no one around. Lorne reached over to hold Lannie's hand as they walked the short walk to the balcony. Lannie blushed at the gesture, but continued to slowly walk. Her side was sore, but she would be okay. Her wound when she had first gotten to the infirmary had been almost five inches across in diameter. However, it now was approximately 2 inches wide, but there was still a raw area in the center. She instinctively knew now that by resting it would heal faster, so she wanted to make sure she got back to her own room quickly.

Lannie and Lorne stepped out onto the Balcony. The sun was warm and bright, and there were only a few clouds in the sky. Lorne smiled. Of course Lannie would know about a place like this and come here to relax, it was almost as if she had her own private beach, although not connected to any water. It was a larger balcony, he noted, and he noticed Lannie's things in a nice shaded area. A folding lounge chair was there, and also a book, a pair of sunglasses, and an MP3 player. He cast a sideways look at Lannie.

"It was a gift from General O'Neill. He thought I would enjoy listening to a variety of music from earth, so he sent it to me. I have had it ever since the Daedalus's last visit. I guess I didn't show it to you." She looked up at Lorne, who smirked down at her. "Yea, you failed to mention that you had music. I hope he put some good stuff on there for you."

Lorne reached down and gathered up the small things, put them in their bag and handed them to Lannie, then folded the chair and put it back in its bag. He slung the bag over his shoulder, then turned again to look at Lannie. She smiled brightly at him. He couldn't help grinning back. He then stepped closer to her and gently pulled her into a tight hug. She sighed happily and returned the embrace. They stood there like that for a few minutes, Lorne lightly rubbing Lannie's back with his hand. Finally, they broke apart. Lannie was still blushing but smiling warmly at him. He once again interlaced his fingers with hers and looked into her eyes.

"Why don't we get you back to you room now, ok? I don't need you to aggravate your wound." She nodded and the two left the balcony and walked towards the transporter. Lorne pressed the spot closest to their rooms and in an instant they were there. The hallway was deserted for the moment, so no one saw the two of them happily walking hand in hand towards Lannie's room. They entered Lannie's room and Lorne helped her sit down on her bed. He then went to go put her chair in the closet as she put her bag down on the floor beside the bed. She carefully lay back down as Lorne walked back over to her. He sat down on the bed next to her, and reached down to the bag and pulled out the MP3 player.

"Let's see what kind of music the General sent you." He smirked at Lannie, and plugged the device into a set of speakers on the stand next to the bed. Lannie giggled slightly and propped herself up on her pillows.

"What would constitute as 'good' music? I have heard quite a few songs and have enjoyed some more than others, but I want your opinion. He smiled at her, then adjusted himself so that he was leaning up against the back of the bed right next to Lannie. She blushed again, but eased next to him, feeling calm and relaxed having him there so close to her. He smiled down at her and put his arm around her shoulders and lightly ran his hand up and down her right arm. He looked down at the MP3 player in his hand and turned it on to the first song.

"Ah, the Beatles. Excellent band. One of those that can be admired by generation after generation." He said, as the Classic played. Lannie nodded. "I really like them. I think General O'Neill put quite a bit of their music on there." Lorne started playing with the device, scrolling through all the different artists. "Wow, he really did put everything on here. Eh." He frowned at one of the titles. "He put pop music on there. I'm not sure about this stuff Lannie, it's not that great."

Lannie looked over to what he was looking at. Shaking her head, she replied, "No, I definitely do not like Britney Spears. Do you think you can remove all of those songs for me?" Lorne laughed. "Sure, no problem. What else don't you like on here?" Lannie began pointing to different names as Lorne continued to scroll through everything Lannie had. He quickly deleted many of the titles that she didn't like, and had to agree with her on most of them.

"Well, Hun, I can tell you that you have a pretty decent taste in music. I think I might have a couple songs that you would like that General O'Neill didn't put on here. I can get them for you later." He turned the music off and placed the MP3 player on the table. He cuddled closer to Lannie, feeling more content than he had in a long while. Lannie smiled and looked up at him.

"Thank you Evan, I would like that a lot." She smiled contently as she rested her head on Lorne's shoulder. He smiled and looked down at her.

"How are you feeling? Do you need some pain relievers or anything?" Lannie shook her head slightly. "No, I feel fine. A little tired, though, but I'm not in pain. Thank you though Evan."

"No problem." He leaned down slightly and kissed Lannie's forehead. She looked back up at him with a slight questioning look on her face. "One day at a time, remember? I don't want to just jump into this. Okay?" She nodded. "I guess I just have questions about what actually happens now." She confessed. He chuckled softly. "I'm not surprised. It's okay though." He thought for a little while.

"Well," he started, "I agree with what you said yesterday, about keeping this quiet for a little bit. So that means that we can't be walking down the halls holding hands, unless we know we're alone, like today." He smiled awkwardly and blushed slightly himself. Being in Atlantis sure did present him with a ton of new experiences, to say the least. He continued. "But we basically keep doing things that we've been doing all along, having meals together, watching movies together, that type of thing. I don't know, for all I know this will be all over the City in a matter of a few weeks, and then things will probably be a little different, but for now, it basically stays the same. Only we get to be closer. Basically."

He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know how to explain it, I've never really had to before." Lannie chuckled to herself. "I understand. We do everything we've done before, only now we get to sit here, like this. And take things one day at a time." She looked up with a slightly wicked look in her eyes that shocked Lorne slightly, but he laughed gently. "Exactly." He said. Lannie settled into him more. "Tell me more about yourself, Evan." She murmured. Lorne laughed. "You want to know more about me? Yea okay. Let's see." He paused for a moment, thinking about what to tell her.

"Okay, well, when I was a kid we had this dog. You know what a dog is, right?" He looked down at Lannie who nodded slightly. Smiling, he continued. "Okay, well, we had this German Sheppard named Toby. My mom hated giving any animal a dumb name, so he was named Tobias, or Toby. It fit him too, he was a pretty decent size, and had beautiful coloring, brown with a bit of white on his neck and face and some darker brown on his back. And he was loyal. He would protect you like the best of them. And he loved the water. Remember how I told you we always went to New Hampshire in the summer? Well he loved going up there. We were on this really great fresh water lake and he would just love going swimming. My brother and I would stand on the beach and try to throw tennis balls out into the water as far as we could, and Toby would have a grand ole' time swimming out to get them. And he was pretty much my dog too. He'd sit there waiting for me to get home from school, and at night he slept at the foot of my bed. He loved everyone else too, of course, but we had a special kind of relationship."

Lorne looked down at Lannie, and smiled. Lannie was lying against him, sleeping soundly with a content look on her face. Lorne leaned his head back against the wall. So much had happened in such a short amount of time, but that's the way it usually was when you were only around the same people day after day. Time seems to move faster, bringing people closer together or even further apart. He looked down at Lannie again. The two of them were definitely getting closer. Lorne smiled to himself. How was it possible that one girl had completely broken through his military shell to get to know the personal Evan? Lannie was definitely one of a kind. Whatever was going to develop between the two of them, it would be good, he knew. Readjusting his right arm around Lannie, Lorne moved into a more comfortable position, and he leaned back and closed his eyes as well.

-------------TBC-----------------

Thoughts? I promise the next chapter will have some more revelations about Lannie, along with other less-fluffy stuff, although it's all fluff when you are in a new relationship. If I remember correctly, lol. Please Review!


	15. This is Who I Am

Disclaimer: Because I do not own any of the characters in the Stargate Universe, I would like to request the creation of a Major Lorne doll so that I can cuddle with him at night. Lucky Lannie (who I do own).

Author's Note: Well, after the fluffiness of last chapter, this one has a little less, but even so I couldn't help myself. It also has the final verdict about who Lannie is exactly. So, please read, review, and enjoy!

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Lannie could feel the warmth radiating off of Major Lorne even before she woke up. She also could hear him snoring softly, which made her giggle slightly. She carefully turned her body to face his more and lay there silently for a few minutes reflecting on everything that had happened in the last 48 hours. As overwhelmed as Lannie was by everything that had happened, she also felt very calm. In a way, it seemed like destiny was at work, or some other kind of force. Of course, fate was not without its sense of humor, which is why it took an injury for Lorne to finally tell Lannie how he felt.

Lannie would have been very content to just lie there with Lorne for the rest of the afternoon, however she sensed that Dr. Weir was calling them over the radio. Carefully Lannie reached over Lorne's still sleeping body and grabbed her radio.

"…Lorne, Lannie, please answer." She caught Dr. Weir saying.

"This is Lannie, Dr. Weir. How can I help you?" Lannie answered. As she said this, she could sense Lorne waking up quickly, although he didn't show any outward signs of opening his eyes just yet.

"If you don't mind Lannie, I'd like for you to come by my office. Major Lorne can come as well if he likes. Dr. Beckett has made an interesting discovery that I'm sure you'd be interested in knowing." Dr. Weir said in reply.

"Of course, Dr. Weir, I will be there in a few minutes. Thank you for letting me know." Lannie answered. She then sat up from her reclining position and looked over at Lorne. He had fully awakened and was now rubbing his eyes with one of his hands. Lannie smiled at him and pulled herself off the bed slowly.

"Hey, what's going on Lannie?" Lorne asked her. Lannie moved over to her closet and took some fresh clothing out. Turning to him, she said, "Dr. Weir just radioed me, Dr. Beckett has completed his analysis and she wants me down there." Lannie moved into the bathroom and quickly changed. She took a quick look at her wound, which was continuing to shrink. Looking into the mirror, she fixed her hair back into a neater ponytail and then left the bathroom. Lorne had stood up and was stretching slightly.

"Do you want me to go with you, or is this something you want to find out about on your own?" Lorne asked her. Lannie shrugged slightly, a new Earth habit she had recently picked up. "It's up to you. Dr. Weir extended an invitation to you, but you don't really need to be there. I can always tell you afterwards." Lannie looked back at Lorne, who was pulling his jacket back on.

"I think I'll sit this one out. I'm sure you'll tell me tonight at dinner, right? And anyway, I have some reports that I've been procrastinating on that need to get done. Is that okay?" He asked, walking over to her.

"That is fine. I will see you for dinner later this evening." Lorne smiled at her, and then leaned down and kissed her cheek.

"I'll see you later then." Smiling again, he left the room and headed off to his own down the hallway. Lannie also left the room and headed for the transporter to take her to Dr. Weir's office. A few moments later she was standing in front of Weir's office door. She knocked quickly, then entered. Dr. Weir was sitting behind her desk, with Dr. Beckett, McKay, and Colonel Sheppard scattered around the area.

"This looks reminiscent of an earlier meeting." Lannie joked quickly. The senior officers smiled at her joke as Lannie went to go sit down in an empty chair in front of Weir's desk. "Okay, so Dr. Beckett, what new and exciting thing have you discovered about me now?" She asked lightly. He smiled bemusedly, then went into his explanation.

"Well, I was able to run a few tests with the blood that we took from you when you were unconscious. I ran a DNA test and compared it to some of the information that we've been able to translate from the Ancient medical database we found. It appears that the City didn't exactly create you, it had a little help to get you started."

He paused for a moment as Lannie thought on what he was telling her. "What I mean to say is, you were created first by the Ancients. I determined that your genes were transferred to you by two Ancients. However, you were what is loosely called a 'test-tube' child. Two Ancients lent their DNA to create you, however you were altered at the genetic level to carry the Ancient Database and basically grown in the lab we found you in. Apparently what happened was that the egg that carried you was fertilized and at the 10 day mark was put in the stasis chamber to be altered and then you were basically frozen. When we came back to the City, the chamber began to reincubate you at an accelerated rate, which is how you appear as old as you do right now." He paused again.

"So, are you saying that I am….an Ancient?" Lannie looked at him incredulously. Carson nodded. She could hear Weir draw her breath sharply as McKay snorted indignantly. It was Colonel Sheppard who spoke up next.

"So, okay, if Lannie is an Ancient, then how come she has all of these abilities? The only Ancients I know about only had powers when they were ascended. I mean, even the ones we saw on Aurora didn't have powers." McKay muttered something under his breath about how well he knew one Ancient in particular, but nodded his head in agreement. Colonel Sheppard and his team had been sent to investigate an Ancient warship that was on a course back to Atlantis. Unfortunately it had been lost due to a Wraith attack.

"Aye, well, here is my theory. Lannie's brain activity is quite high. According to reports that I've read, all of the Ancients before they ascended all exhibited higher brain functions. I believe that Lannie has been genetically evolved to the level right below ascension, which explains all of her abilities."

"So Carson, does that mean that Lannie can ascend at any time now?" Dr. Weir asked him. Carson shook his head. "No. I reviewed her brain scans, and there is one particular area that does not have high functions. I believe that it's this area that is used to complete the ascension. For some reason it has been blocked in Lannie, so that she cannot ascend."

"How ironic. I have all the abilities but not the great reward." Lannie said sarcastically. Sheppard looked over at her. "No more hanging around McKay for you, Lannie, you're getting a little too immersed in our language, especially the sarcasm part." He said half seriously. Lannie gave him a half smile. 'Such the big brother.' She thought quickly, then went back into her silence to think about everything that had just been said. In a way, it explained everything that was going on with her.

"It's funny." She spoke up. "I know so much about this City, and so much about everyone here, and yet I don't even know who I am." Everyone else paused their own conversations and looked at her. Lannie continued. "I mean, I can sense every emotion each one of you is feeling right now, as well as hear some of your thoughts." She threw a pointed look at McKay, who stammered and then tried with all his might to block her from his mind. "So, here's the judgment. I'm an Ancient. Created by the Ancients with Ancient DNA, yet with a blockage to prevent me from ascending, yet giving me powers and abilities I can use to help you with your expedition. I can read and speak Ancient and I have the entire Ancient Database stored in my mind. But I need to ask you all this."

Lannie made sure the Senior Officers were paying attention to her. "I want you to treat me like any other person on this expedition. Yes, I am special. I also apparently have a destiny to help you in any way that I can. So I am going to. In turn, please respect me and my abilities, and do not question when I do things that you may not understand. In time you will learn about every little thing that Atlantis has to offer you. For now, you just have to trust me, and at the same time let me try to make a life for myself here amongst you. Let me make friends, let me even have relationships if any present themselves. If everyone can agree that they can do this, then I don't think there's anything else we need to discuss. What do you say?"

Lannie looked around the room. They all exchanged looks, and then Dr. Weir said, "Of course Lannie, we respect you and treat you as an equal. We are very lucky to have you here to help us. I think that the excitement of trying to learn everything about you got to our heads a little, so from now on no more theories, no more tests, and no more of these types of meetings." She smiled at Lannie. "We are truly grateful for everything that you have helped us with already, as well as everything you will help us with in the future. Now, I think we've discussed this issue long enough. Dismissed."

With that, everyone stood up and started leaving the room. Dr. Beckett walked over to Lannie, but she cut him off. "Dr. Beckett, my wound is healing nicely. It will be completely gone in a matter of days. I am fine." He smiled at her and then left the office. With one last grateful look to Dr. Weir, Lannie also left and headed to Major Lorne's room. 'He's going to love this information.' She thought to herself as she stood outside his doorway. She knocked quickly instead of using the bell and then entered.

Lorne was sitting at his desk, still attempting to work on his reports. Seeing Lannie in the doorway, his face lit up and a smile spread over his face.

"Hey you." He said, and stood up from his desk and walked to Lannie, who had entered his quarters. She smiled at him, and then took his hand and led him over to his couch.

"I want to go get some food soon, but first I need to tell you everything that just happened." Lannie informed him.

"Okay, so what's up? What did Beckett find out?" Lorne gently massaged her hand and stared into her eyes. Lannie sighed, and then began.

"Well, it appears that I'm an Ancient." At that Lorne's eyes widened sharply, but he let her continue. "Beckett found out that both donors to my DNA were Ancients, so I wasn't completely genetically engineered. However, I was genetically altered to carry the Ancient Database. On top of that, I am apparently evolved to the point of ascension, however there is a blocker in my mind to prevent that from ever happening. That's the reason I have all the abilities that I have. So that's it. Dr. Weir and company decided that they weren't going to test out anymore theories about me because this one fits, so no more tests, and no more uncomfortable meetings where I feel like a science project. And that is the story."

Lannie finished and then looked away from Lorne briefly. She stared around his room while he processed everything once more. He had accumulated more things in his room since her first visit there. He now had a few posters up of different places around Earth, such as the Grand Canyon and a few forests. He also had some more pictures of his family, as well as books and an assortment of music CDs. Everything was neat and orderly, very militant, however his desk was scattered with an assortment of papers, supplies, pictures, and other odds and ends. When Lannie had questioned him about it a few days ago, he had laughed and said that as organized and clean a person he was, there was always something that needed to be a little out of order in order to give a room more of a comforting and home-like feel. She smiled slightly at this memory, and was brought out of her thoughts by a hand reaching to turn her head back to Lorne's intense blue eyes.

"Lannie, no matter who you are or what abilities you possess, you're still going to be the Lannie I know and care about. I like you for everything else about you. My feelings have nothing to do with you being an apparent Ancient. They have everything to do with YOU. They way you act, your ideas, how you interact with people, those are all the things that attract me to you. Got it?" He looked intently at her. She smiled at him and nodded.

"Of course," he smirked, "it is pretty cool to have myself my own personal SuperGirl." He laughed as Lannie attempted to playfully hit him with a pillow. He grabbed it and threw it onto the floor and grabbed Lannie onto his lap in a bear hug. She giggled and tried to squirm out of it, but finally just relaxed and cuddled into him. Lorne smiled and put his head on top of hers. They sat there for a while until Lannie's stomach made a growling noise. Laughing again, Lorne pulled her up off of the couch.

"How about we go get us some dinner, eh? Come on." He put his arm around her shoulders as they walked out of his room and towards the Mess Hall.

--------------TBC-------------------

Thoughts? Please review, I enjoy reading everything everyone has to say, especially if anyone has ideas for anything in the future!


	16. Worries Put to Rest

Disclaimer: If I owned anyone, do you really think that I would be writing this story?

SPOILER ALERT: CONTAINS CONTENT FROM LOST BOYS AND THE HIVE, SO BE WARNED. Only slight spoilers for The Hive, nothing major is given away, I think.

Author's Note: So, this is by far the longest chapter I have written, but I just couldn't split into two chapters because it has so many good things in it! So, it basically runs parallel to the episodes mentioned above, meaning there is actual dialogue taken from the show and put in here, mostly from Lost Boys. And there's finally an important moment between Lannie and Lorne...Other than that, there's not much else I have to say here, just read, enjoy, and review!

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"Colonel Sheppard!" Lannie called out, running down the hallway to catch up with the Colonel. He turned around, adjusting the straps on his vest and gave Lannie a big grin.

"Hey Kiddo, what's up? I'm about to go off world." He waited for Lannie to catch up to him.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about, if you have a moment." Lannie answered, smiling at the Colonel but with slight worry hidden in her eyes. Sheppard looked at his watch and then back up at Lannie. "I've got a minute. Knowing McKay he'll be late anyway, so it's all good. What's up?"

He knew that Lannie wouldn't stop him before a mission without a good reason, and he trusted her enough to hear her out. The other day Lannie had jokingly called him her big brother, and in a way he felt protective of her, so in a way he was like a brother. Which, he felt, had been coming in handy lately, as Lannie and Major Lorne were spending quite a bit of time together, not like they didn't before she got hurt, but now it seemed to be more obvious while not being so much at the same time. Sheppard had a sneaking suspicion that they were more than just friends, and wanted to make sure that Lorne would take care of his new little 'sister'.

"I do not know if this is appropriate, but I just, well, I don't have a good feeling about this mission you are going on John. I have a feeling something is going to happen." Lannie told him seriously.

"Ah, your Spider senses are tingling, eh?" Sheppard smirked. Lannie smiled quickly at the cheesy movie reference then went back to being serious. Not smirking anymore either, Sheppard asked her, "What do you mean by something not going well. Can you give me anything more than just a warning?" Lannie looked down at the ground as if debating something in her head. She looked back up at the Colonel.

"Just please be aware of your surroundings. And don't eat anything given to you. That's all I can tell you, if I say anything more I can change things that aren't meant to be changed." Lannie answered. John looked intently at her for a moment, then smiled reassuringly at Lannie.

"Ok. I promise I won't eat anything other than my Power Bars, as long as Rodney doesn't beg me for them. I'll keep it in mind. Thank you Lannie." He put a brotherly hand on her back and then turned to leave.

"Do you warn Lorne about things like this too?" He called back to her.

"Only when I know that he might do something possibly foolish." Lannie called to him, grinning. She stood where she was and watched the Colonel leave the hallway. "I guess that will have to do." She said to herself. Slowly, she turned and walked towards the Labs. Hopefully Dr. Zelenka had something for her to work on.

A few hours later, Lannie had helped Dr. Zelenka on a few of his projects, and had also adjusted a few calculations on a project that Dr. McKay had been working on. She knew that he would never find out, and if it led him to make an important discovery she was willing to let him, no matter how much bigger his ego could potentially get.

Dr. Zelenka loved having Lannie help out in the lab, for some reason McKay didn't yell at people as much when she was around. Rodney had even asked for Lannie's help on a calculation the other day, causing many of the scientists in the room to stop what they were doing and stare in disbelief at the self-proclaimed infallible Doctor. Lannie had smiled slightly and assisted McKay with what he needed. The two of them had come to a mutual respect, and it was easier for Rodney to discover things if he had Lannie helping him, so they had to get along.

Lannie left the Lab a few minutes later and headed towards the Control Room. She had sensed that the Gate was being activated, and she had a feeling she knew who it was. She stood on one of the balconies and looked down into the main room. Major Lorne was standing there talking with a concerned Dr. Weir. Lannie knew that Colonel Sheppard and his team were overdue, and she hadn't warned Dr. Weir about the team, so she could understand her concern. She watched as Lorne fumbled with his reassurance that Colonel Sheppard's team was alright to Dr. Weir. He looked embarrassed at something he had said, then gave a half smile and turned to his team.

"Okay, you guys, it looks like we're heading back out." Lorne told his teammates, who all were smirking at him and his blunderings with Dr. Weir.

"Thank you Major." Weir called to him.

"You're welcome." He turned back to her, and then his eyes went up to Lannie on the balcony. He gave her a quick private smile, and then turned back to his team as the Gate reopened to the planet Colonel Sheppard was supposed to be on. Dr. Weir walked back up the stairs to the main control room and noticed Lannie standing on the balcony. She walked over to her and stood at the rail next to her.

"Lannie." Dr. Weir smiled towards Lannie. "Did you stop by to see Major Lorne off again?" She asked, keeping a professional face on.

"No, I just came to hear him embarrass himself in front of you and his teammates." Lannie answered seriously, then broke out into a wide grin. Dr. Weir also smiled at Lannie's comment, but then the slight worry crossed back over her face.

"Yes, well, I suppose the Major was just trying to reassure me. However I am worried about them. At the very least John radios in when they're overdue." Dr. Weir said, looking back over the Gate Room. Lannie nodded slightly but kept quiet. It was not her place to tell Dr. Weir about what was happening to her flagship team.

"Well, I think you might be up for a little distraction. How about an Ancient lesson?" Lannie had been helping Dr. Weir with her translations of Ancient into English. Dr. Weir turned and smiled at Lannie. "That would be wonderful, Lannie. Shall we?" Dr. Weir stepped away from the rail and extended her arm towards her office. Bowing her head at Dr. Weir, Lannie walked into the office with Weir following.

"Okay guys, let's spread out. Keep in radio contact, and check in every 10 minutes." Lorne said to his teammates as they stepped from the gate. The sun was slowly falling from the sky, and Lorne knew that they had to have the area thoroughly searched before he could radio in to Atlantis. He headed towards the West and in the setting sunlight found a decent trail to search down.

As he searched the area, his mind kept replaying his conversation with Dr. Weir. 'Oh well, what's done is done.' He thought to himself. The memory continued until it rested on the image of Lannie standing on the balcony overlooking the Gate Room. He smiled to himself. He was always taken aback by the way Lannie looked and how she carried herself. He grimaced slightly as he remembered that she had cautioned him at breakfast that morning to be careful with what he said during the day. He had thought she had meant while he was attempting to arrange a treaty with the Jenev, and no matter how polite he was to them, they had kindly told him that they were fine on their own.

Lorne thought once again of Lannie on the balcony. She looked as if she truly be at home in the City at the time of the Ancients. At the same time, she looked like she finally belonged with all the people from Earth. She had been wearing a typical Atlantis uniform today instead of 'civilian' clothing, and her hair was in its usual braid. He had tried to get her to wear it down for him when they had had a 'date' the other night, but she instead put her hair only half-up.

Lorne smiled to himself again as he remembered their evening. Unbeknownst to most people, Major Lorne was quite the cook. His mother had made sure that all of her children were very well rounded in all aspects, professional and familial. Thus, he could cook, and it wasn't just because of the military that he always had a neat and orderly room. The night of their 'date', Lorne had managed to convince one of the Mess Cooks to let him in their kitchen to cook the dinner. Lannie had been very surprised when she entered the Major's room to see a table nicely set with a candle lit and the heat from the food steaming off of the plates. They had enjoyed a nice meal together, and then had curled up on his couch and watched a movie on his computer. After the movie was over, Lorne had walked Lannie back to her quarters like a gentleman. Of course, he still had yet to properly kiss her, but it would happen soon. Lorne really didn't want to rush anything with her, especially because everything was a new experience for her. Lannie was flattered that Lorne was taking such care with their relationship.

Lorne continued searching the area while planning his next 'date' with Lannie. Soon, his radio crackled to life. "Sir, I found some footprints over here, but nothing else."

"Okay. Did anyone else find anything?" Lorne asked. "No Sir." Came the reply from the rest of his team. "Okay, let's head back to the Gate to check in." Lorne ordered, and started making his way back as well. Once he reached the Gate, he started dialing the DHD back to Atlantis.

Lannie was currently sitting in the Control Room talking with the young technician who Lannie had become friends with. As the two spoke in low tones, Dr. Weir was speaking with Major Lorne through the MALP that was on the planet with the Major.

"Can you give me the last few addresses dialed from the DHD?" Weir was asking him.

"Maybe somebody can, but that's a little out of my skills set." Lorne replied. Lannie smiled slightly at that comment. Evan had a way of speaking that was so laid back and easy going that it made anyone smile.

"I'll send Zelenka." Weir replied.

"Good call. Lorne out." He cast a quick look over to Lannie as the Gate shut down. Lannie and the technician stopped their conversation and looked over at Dr. Weir as she sighed heavily and turned to them.

"Okay, well, hopefully Dr. Zelenka can figure out where Colonel Sheppard and his team went. Dr. Zelenka?" She pressed her radio on and called out to the doctor. "Dr. Zelenka, I need to send you off-world to assist Major Lorne's team, they need to get some information from the DHD there." Dr. Weir listened to Zelenka's reply on the other end. "Very well Doctor, I'll see you here in five minutes." She clicked her radio off. "I'll be in my office. When Dr. Zelenka arrives please make sure he gets to Major Lorne and his team." Both the technician and Lannie nodded at her as she turned and walked into her office. They watched as she sat down heavily and stared out into space.

"If only Dr. Weir had the Ancient gene, she would be able to tint the windows so that she could have a little privacy." Lannie commented. The technician nodded absentmindedly as he puttered around on his computer. A few moments later Dr. Zelenka entered the Gate Room with a box of supplies. Lannie watched as the Gate swooshed to life and Zelenka went through.

"I'm going to go back to my room. I'll see you later." Lannie said, and the Tech smiled and said goodbye as she left. Lannie walked causally down the hallway to her quarters. She smiled at a few people who passed by her, and then finally arrived at her room. She entered and flopped herself down on her bed. She sighed to herself in slight frustration. It was upsetting that she knew of what was happening to Colonel Sheppard and his team and yet could do nothing or say nothing about it, yet she knew that everything was happening for a reason and so she let it without interference. Rolling over on her side, she reached for her MP3 player. Earth music calmed her for some reason, even if she was listening to what was called hard rock. As the music played, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Lannie awoke a few hours later to the sound of her doorbell. Groaning slightly, she called out, "Who is it?" The door swished open to reveal Major Lorne standing there.

"Hey." He said, entering the room. Lannie sat up in her bed a little more and smiled at him. "Hey Evan. You're back. How did it go?"

Lorne sighed and walked over to Lannie's bed. Sitting down next to her, he looked over at her. "It sucks when you have to tell your boss that her number one team is missing and probably won't be found unless they manage to get home on their own." Lannie nodded in agreement, and then giggled slightly as Lorne lay down next to her and pulled her against him. Lannie was faced away from him, but she could sense his concern fade slightly as he held on to her. After a few moments of silence, Lorne kissed the back of her head.

"So, you know what I did today, what did you do to keep yourself entertained?" He asked her. Lannie smiled and settled into him more. "I assisted Dr. Zelenka in the lab, then watched you embarrass yourself," Lorne sighed exasperatedly at the comment, and Lannie giggled slightly. She continued. "After you left again I assisted Dr. Weir with her Ancient lessons, then spent some time in the Control Room, then came back here and took a nap until you came and woke me up." Lannie looked over her shoulder and attempted to give Lorne an angry look, but he just laughed and squeezed her tighter.

"Hey, in all of your exciting and fun things, did you eat at all?" Lorne asked her. Lannie looked at him embarrassedly. "Um, no. I was so busy I just completely forgot."

"Alright then, let's get you to the Mess before it closes. Am I going to have to get Beckett to remind you to eat during the day?" He asked her half-jokingly, pulling her off of the bed. "No." Lannie answered. "And besides, did you even have anything to eat today?"

Lorne grimaced. He had only had a Power Bar. "I thought so. So no more looking out for me when you haven't even taken care of yourself." Lannie scolded him, but then took his hand and the two started walking out of Lannie's room. They managed to make it to the Mess Hall without anyone seeing them holding hands. They both grabbed some food and found a table in a quiet corner. Lorne had to laugh as Lannie dove right into her meal.

"So, you know that I'm probably not going to be around a lot until we find Colonel Sheppard and his team. Dr. Weir wants to at least start searching all the addresses we found in the DHD. And hopefully once the Daedalus gets here they'll be able to help out more, but even so…" Lorne trailed off. Lannie tiled her head quizzically at Lorne.

"Evan, Colonel Sheppard, Teyla, Ronon and Dr. McKay will be fine. They will be found soon. Don't worry." Lannie reached over and put her hand on top of Lorne's.

He smiled down at it. "Yea. You're right. But I probably still won't be around a lot. There's a chance that we might have to cancel our next official date." He looked over at her apologetically.

Lannie took a bit of her food and shook her head. "Not we won't. Date night still goes on as planned. It might end up getting cut short a little, but we will still have it." Lorne smiled slightly at Lannie's prediction. He knew that whatever she stated about the future usually came true in one way or another, so he no longer questioned her comments. The two finished their meal and then headed back to their rooms.

Major Lorne's prediction about the next few days was correct. Dr. Weir had all available teams searching the addresses found in the DHD. Of course, they didn't have to search for long, as Dr. McKay suddenly came through the Stargate. Lannie's prediction about her and Major Lorne's date also.

Lorne had taken a page from Colonel Sheppard's book of dating and had packed a picnic lunch for himself and Lannie. The two ended up on the balcony that Lannie had visited the day she got hurt. Lorne had laid out a blanket in the shade, and the two settled down, eating and discussing the return of McKay along with other things that had been happening in their lives. Lannie leaned up against the City wall very full and relaxed as Major Lorne was half-lying on the blanket.

"So, my brother ended up blaming me for everything he had done, and of course since I was the oldest I got punished while he got off scot-free. I never let him live it down though. He paid for what he did." Lorne finished telling Lannie a story of his childhood. Lannie laughed, her deep brown eyes shining brightly. Suddenly, she sat forward and reached into her bag that she had brought with her.

"Hey, Evan?" She asked somewhat coyly. "Yes Lannie." He answered her. Lannie pulled a football out of her bag. "Do you think you could teach me how to throw a football? I know you're a baseball person, but it's easy throwing a baseball. A football is more complicated. Can you help?" Lorne laughed at Lannie's question, but pulled himself up and offered his hand for Lannie to help herself up also.

"Alright, now the trick with throwing a football is that it's all in the wrist. You need to fully extend your arm, but at the last minute you give a little flick of your wrist to give the ball it's spin." He stood behind her and put the football in her right hand.

"Evan, I'm left-handed, remember?" Lannie giggled and switched hands. Lorne chuckled modestly, but continued to help her hold the football properly.

"Okay, now bring your arm back like you're going to throw a baseball. Remember to twist your wrist slightly just as you're letting the ball go." He took a step to the side as Lannie threw the football across the balcony.

"Did I do that properly?" Lannie asked Lorne excitedly. Lorne smiled back at her. "That was really good. I'm impressed, but you're a quick study, and you and the Colonel watch enough Football games together so you know what it's supposed to look like." He jogged over to where the ball had fallen and picked it up. "Where did you get this anyway?"

"Daedalus shipment yesterday. It technically is John's but I knew that he wouldn't mind me using it. And no, I didn't go through his things." Lorne was giving Lannie a sideways glance at her statement. "He ordered too many things for himself that the SGC refused to send him things, so he asked that I get them as if they were mine. So the box was addressed to me, but most of it is his." She explained. Lorne nodded. He had a feeling that Colonel Sheppard had more personal items than most of the other people on Atlantis.

"Okay, now let's see if you can catch this as well as you throw it." Lorne said to Lannie and tossed the football to her. Lannie gracefully caught the ball and in one fluid motion threw it back to him. Lorne laughed, and the two tossed the football back and forth for a few minutes.

"You know," Lorne commented, "I bet a bunch of the military guys around her would love to get together a football team of some sort. And I'm sure you know an area big enough for us to play." Lannie thought for a moment, and then nodded.

"There is a place. But would it be exactly like the games I've seen? Because if it is then Dr. Beckett will have his hands full with injuries. I mean, isn't there tackling? Like this?"

As Lannie said this she jumped onto Lorne's back. She laughed hysterically as Lorne dropped the football and reached around to tickle Lannie's sides. He then managed to pull her around to his front. Lannie's eyes were ablaze and she was laughing and breathing heavily from being tickled. Lorne's own blue eyes were bright with laughter. He stood there holding Lannie for a moment, the both of them gazing into each other's eyes. Cautiously, he leaned his head towards hers more, their lips lining up together. Lannie's eyes widened and she took a sharp breath at his closeness but then relaxed and closed her eyes as her lips met his. The kiss was soft and gentle, and Lorne brought one of his hands up to her face while the other kept her in place. Neither wanted to move away from each other as the kiss deepened slowly. Suddenly, though, Lannie pulled away and buried her head in his shoulder.

"You okay?" Lorne asked her, concerned that he had done something wrong.

"Yes. That was…perfect, Evan." Lannie raised her head. Lorne grinned at her comment. "But Dr. Weir and Colonel Caldwell are looking for you." She told him sadly. Lorne groaned in annoyance and gently put Lannie back down on the balcony. "Are you serious?" He asked her. "I have the day off, what do they want?"

"I think Dr. McKay knows where to find Colonel Sheppard and the others. You need to go to the Daedalus. I'm sorry this ruined our date." She looked up at him apologetically. Lorne lifted her head a little more and kissed her gently on the lips.

"Don't be sorry, it's not you fault that they need my help. But I should get going now, otherwise they'll use that life signs thing to find me, and I know as well as you that we don't want them to find us out here." He let go of Lannie's waist and grabbed his radio off of the blanket. "This is Major Lorne, I'm on my way to the Control Room now." He said into it. "Very good." Came the reply on the other end. Lorne turned back to Lannie.

"Go. I'll clean up here, don't worry. I'll see you whenever you get back." Lorne smiled again at Lannie and then jogged through the door towards the Control Room. Lannie sighed happily and then began to clean up the balcony.

--------------TBC------------------

SO! Please tell me what you think, this was a HUGE endeavor for me to write, and I love hearing everyone's opinions!


	17. Foreshadowing and Privacy Interrupted

Disclaimer: Not mine, no matter how many letters I write to Santa. Lannie is mine however.

SPOILERS FOR THE HIVE, SLIGHT FORESHADOWING FOR EPIPHANY (very slight, blink and miss it spoiler) AND CRITICAL MASS(also fairly slight).

Author's Note: So, I don't know how good I am at writing kiss scenes, but I tried. Anyway, this pretty much continues from where I left off. So, I hope you enjoy it, and I really hope I'm getting the speech pattern of the characters correct, if not it's as close as I possibly can. SO, please read, enjoy, and review! 80-someodd people read my last chapter and only 3 reviewed, so I would really love to see more! I accept anonymous reviews, so please review! Enjoy!

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"Hey, Lannie, where are you going?" Major Lorne called out to Lannie as he saw her briskly walking down the hallway. She spun around quickly as he caught up to her.

"I'm going to go see Colonel Sheppard, Teyla, and Ronon. They just got back a little while ago, and I want to see how they are doing." She answered.

"Yea, but I just got back too, don't you want to know how I am?" Lorne replied, smirking at her. Lannie smiled sarcastically at him.

"Seeing as how you didn't need to go to the Infirmary as soon as you got back here, you're fine. And I am glad for that, but I want to go see John and the others. They had a more interesting ordeal than what you got to do."

"How do you know what I did?" Lorne called to her as she started walking away from him.

"I know all." She replied, flashing him a grin and then disappearing around a corner. Lorne smiled and shook his head as he began walking towards his quarters.

Lannie entered the Infirmary to see Dr. Weir, Colonel Caldwell, and Dr. McKay standing in front of Colonel Sheppard, Teyla, and Ronon, the latter two who were sitting on beds. Dr. Beckett was also standing there.

"Am I interrupting anything?" Lannie asked cautiously, joining the group. "Not at all, Lannie." Dr. Weir answered, looking much more relieved than she had looked earlier.

"Teyla, Ronon, how are you feeling?" Lannie asked them. Teyla smiled gently at her. "We are much better. The worst is mostly over according to Dr. Beckett."

"So, Lannie, you couldn't tell me anything other than just don't eat the food?" Colonel Sheppard asked her half jokingly. Dr. Weir and Colonel Caldwell looked at her inquisitively. Lannie shied slightly from Caldwell's stare and looked at Colonel Sheppard.

"Well, I could have told you to be wary of pretty girls in cocoons, but that would have given too much away." Lannie answered, smiling slightly. McKay made a comment under his breath about Sheppard and alien women as John chuckled.

"Care to explain what she means?" Dr. Weir asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, not only are the Wraith fighting each other, but apparently there are a whole bunch of people who pretty much worship the Wraith. That's kind of how I managed to egg the Queen along. I said that I was one of the worshippers and that I was sent in by my Queen to blow up the Hive. It was sort of creepy, the girl was spouting all this stuff about prophecies that had to do with the Wraith awakening." Sheppard explained.

"Well, let's hope that we never come across some of those people on away missions." Caldwell spoke up. "If you'll excuse me, I have to check in with the Daedalus." He nodded slightly towards Dr. Weir and glanced over the others as he left the infirmary. Lannie shuddered and let out a heavy breath as soon as he left. McKay eyed her reaction.

"I do not get a good feeling from him. He is…unnerving. I cannot explain it. He just gives me an uneasy feeling whenever I am around him." She explained.

"Yes, well." Rodney said. "Not everyone can be Suzy Sunshine, can they?" He turned to Colonel Sheppard and the others. "Well, I'm glad that you are alright. I'm going to go back to work. I need to make sure Zelenka hasn't ruined anything I was working on before this little adventure." He briskly walked away.

"I think I should also go, let you two rest." Dr Weir said, looking at Teyla and Ronon. "I'm glad that you're all safe. I'm giving you all the rest of the week off to recuperate. I'm sure you can use the vacation. John grinned. "Well, since I'm pretty much released, I'm going to get started on that vacation right now."

"I have some boxes in my room that are technically yours, John." Lannie told him. His eyes lit up. "Excellent, let's go get those. You guys get all rested and better, I'll see you later." John looked over at Lannie and the two of them left the Infirmary and headed towards Lannie's quarters.

"I hope you don't mind, but Major Lorne and I already used your football. I wanted to see if I could pass it properly." Lannie informed the Colonel.

"You did, did you? Well I hope you two had fun." Sheppard raised an eyebrow at Lannie. She blushed slightly. "He was thinking that he could get some guys together to play every now and then. There is an area of the City that is large enough if you are interested. It's up to you, though, it is your football." They entered Lannie's room and she moved over to the four boxes sitting next to her desk.

"Hey. Lannie." John looked intently at Lannie. "I'm not going to pry into your or Major Lorne's personal life, but I know that you two are, well, close, let's just say. And I know that Lorne is a good guy, but I'm the 'big brother' so I have to say this to you. If he does anything that hurts you or makes you upset, you tell me, okay? I don't need you getting hurt by him and ending up blowing up a part of Atlantis in your anger. So if he does anything, I mean anything, to hurt you, tell me."

Lannie blushed and smiled slightly, but nodded at Sheppard's comment. "You don't have to worry. Major Lorne is a perfect gentleman. But I will keep that in mind. And for the moment you don't have to worry about anything being blown up just because we're mad at each other, because right now we are fine. But can you keep this quiet? I would really like to not be the latest gossip around Atlantis, and neither would the Major." Lannie asked him. Sheppard smiled and nodded.

"You got it kiddo. Well, let me grab my boxes and be off. Are all of them mine?" He asked her. "No, the bottom one is actually mine. Just the top three are yours. I can help you carry them back to your room if you'd like. They are a bit heavy." John grinned. "Sure, you take this one here and I'll get the other two. Ready?" Lannie nodded and the two left Lannie's room to bring the boxes to the Colonel's.

Lannie got back to her room a while later. She was pleasantly surprised to see Major Lorne sitting on her couch reading a book. As soon as she entered he put the book down.

"Hey, I hope you don't mind, I figured you'd be back soon so I made myself comfortable. Where were you?" Lannie sank into the couch next to Lorne, and he put his arm around her shoulders as she rested her head against his.

"I was helping John unpack his boxes. He has quite a collection of things that he claims he cannot live without. It is interesting to see more things of Earth and what they mean to a person." Lorne chuckled.

"I can only imagine what he has. You know in the beginning of this expedition everyone could only bring one personal item. Of course, now that the Daedalus is flying back and forth everyone has a ton of personal stuff. I don't know, I guess it makes people more at home here."

"What do you think your one personal item would be?" Lannie asked him.

"Well, let's see. Honestly? It would probably be that picture of my sister Becka that I have on my desk. It's kinda dumb, but looking at how happy she is there always brightens my mood. She was the baby of the family, but she always managed to be front and center in everything. So that's what I would have brought with me. I guess I'm kind of lucky that I could bring a few things when I got here."

"However," he said, looking at Lannie with a glint in his eye, "I do need to say that right now I am a very lucky guy indeed. I mean, here I am with my very beautiful girlfriend," Lannie blushed furiously at the title, "who even though is literally a thousand times smarter than me, is willing for some unknown reason to give me a chance and make me a very happy guy. And I'm being honest, Lannie. You make me very happy. Even before we were dating and were really good friends you always had a way of making me feel good no matter what was going on. So I just wanted to let you know that." Lorne smirked. "And you will never hear me say that with other people around, because I am a stoic military man. And military guys know that you don't get all gushy with your girl in front of them. It's just putting fuel on a fire."

He looked down at Lannie, who was giggling, and started laughing himself. He pulled Lannie onto his lap, and she draped her arms around his neck.

"I'm glad you told me that, Evan, because according to John if you were ever to hurt me in any way I'm supposed to tell him, and I can guess that you would not be a happy person then." She smiled and looked into his bright blue eyes. He chuckled softly.

"That is not going to happen." He said to her seriously, and then kissed her gently on the lips. Lannie responded in turn, although she did follow a bit of Lorne's guidance when the kiss deepened. Lannie's hand ran lightly through Lorne's short hair, and his hand gently held the base of her neck while the other lightly ran up and down Lannie's back. The kiss lasted for a few minutes until Lorne broke away. Lannie's eyes remained closed for a moment more as she caught the breath that had seemed to go out of her when Lorne kissed her. Lorne watched her as she broke out into a wide smile and opened her eyes to meet his.

"What's so funny?" Lorne asked her, chuckling at her expression of enjoyment. Lannie giggled slightly. "The movies were right." She whispered in response. Lorne smiled and pulled Lannie in tighter to him. "Oh yea, and how so?" He asked her. Lannie blushed furiously again and looked down at his chest. "Butterflies." Was her soft response. Lorne grinned and gently moved a piece of Lannie's hair away from her eyes. One of these days he was going to get her to leave her hair down. Lannie looked back up into his shining eyes. "I know what you mean." He replied softly to her, then pulled her in for another kiss. The two became so lost in one another that they didn't notice Lannie's door opening.

"Oh come on now, seriously, why do you two decide to get together when I'm not here! Now I probably lost out on the betting pool. And I thought you were my friend, Lannie." Lt. Laura Cadman stood in the door with a smirk on her face. Lorne and Lannie broke away from their embrace and look very embarrassed. Cadman entered the room quickly and the door shut behind her.

"Hi Laura." Lannie said to her friend, still blushing furiously.

"Hi Laura? That's all I get? I mean I'm surprised you still even have the power of speech after seeing that kiss you two were sharing. But hey, that's okay, I'm sure you'll make it up to me by telling me absolutely everything that has been going on since I left here. So, how did you two get together?" She sing-songed to them as she sat down on Lannie's bed facing them. Lannie swiftly moved from Lorne's lap to sit next to him. The Major rubbed the back of his next grimacing in embarrassment of being caught by Cadman.

"Why don't I let you two do the whole girl-talk thing." He said and started off the couch. Swiftly Lannie pulled him back down. "No. You need to help with the story. It's our story, it should be told by both of us. That is, as long as Laura can keep it to herself and not tell the entire City." Lannie shot Laura a mock glare and Laura nodded.

"Of course. Secret's safe with me, I promise. So are you going to tell me or not?" She answered. Lannie and Lorne looked at each other and smiled. Leaning into Lorne's shoulder, Lannie started.

"Well, we had almost had a conversation when Colonel Sheppard had his bug incident. However, it got cut short." Lannie began. "Anyway, fast forward a few weeks. You had left on the Daedalus a week or so before I believe. Basically what happened was that Evan's and Colonel Sheppard's teams were on M47-831 and had an altercation with a few Darts, and a couple of blasts came through the Gate. I transversely got injured because of the damage to the City. Evan saw me on the ground, called for help, I was rushed into surgery, he was quite worried about me, and when I woke up he was right there."

"Hey now, let's not exaggerate too much about how I was feeling." Lorne interjected. Cadman giggled and Lannie smiled at him. "I was worried," he explained, "because I didn't know how she had gotten hurt, and yea, I guess in all the thoughts going through my head I realized that I had feelings of more than friendship. So I went down to the infirmary and was there when Lannie woke up, and when we got a moment alone to ourselves we had a little talk, and now here we are. And that's it." He finished up, blushing again.

"Well, there's a bit that he's leaving out, but I can tell you all the details later. Oh, and by the way apparently I'm an Ancient. In fact I'm right below Ascending, but the Ancients put in a blocker so that I can't. And the rest I'll tell you later so that we don't have to embarrass the Major here any more." Lannie told Cadman, nudging Lorne slightly as he tightened his arm that was around her waist.

"So you mean to tell me that the two of you have been running all over this City for the last month making out in corners and abandoned hallways and in your rooms? And I'm telling you if I lost that bet, you two will have to find a way to pay me back, because I had good money riding on the two of you." Laura crossed her arms and mock-glared at the two of the again.

"Well, first of all no one knows of our relationship other than you. Colonel Sheppard knows unofficially because he's good at figuring things out, but that's it. And secondly we have not been running all over the City kissing. In fact it's been the opposite, but I'll tell you more later." Lannie said. Laura sighed. "Okay fine. The moment you two are finished having your little alone time you call me. I'm going to go say hi to Carson, I haven't seen him yet." Laura stood up and walked towards the door.

As soon as she left Lorne let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, man." He said, and then looked down at Lannie. "I'm sorry." She said, looking up apologetically at him. He smiled at her. "You have nothing to be sorry about, it's not your fault that Cadman decided to say hello just then. And you were bound to tell her sooner or later anyway, so it's no big deal. It just caught me off guard. That's all." He tilted his head down and lightly kissed her lips reassuringly. She smiled and put her head on his shoulder. He wrapped both arms around her and kissed the top of her head. Lannie closed her eyes and enjoyed the moment. Everything was perfect.

---------TBC-----------

Thoughts? Like it, hate it, feel indifferent?I promise there will be more action coming up, however I don't know when I'll get around to writing it because it's Finals week and I'm moving back home for the holiday next week, so we'll see what happens. Pleasepleaseplease Review!


	18. Girl Talk 2 and Possible Opportunities

Disclaimer: Well, seeing as how I didn't get Major Lorne for Christmas, I guess it proves that he and everyone else in the Stargate Universe don't belong to me. Lannie, however, does.

Author's Note: SPOILERS FOR EPIPHANY. Slight Spoiler also for CRITICAL MASS.

Thank you to everyone who is reading this, I hope it's entertaining enough. I'm trying to include the actual show and not just do my own thing, and I hope it's working.

Also, just to clarify for both myself and anyone who cares, Lannie has been alive for a little over five months, and has been dating Lorne for one month. I believe that the timing works, if not then I can change it around a little bit. Anyway, more Cadman/Lannie interaction, more Lorne/Lannie fluff, and even a small amount of Colonel Sheppard. Enjoy and review!

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"So, when I walked in on you and Lorne that was only like your third time kissing? And you've been dating for almost a month? Geez, he's a little slow, don't you think?" Lt. Cadman asked Lannie as she scooped out a spoonful of ice cream from the carton the two were sharing. Lannie retucked her legs under her and shook her head, waving her spoon in the air slightly.

"No, he was being a gentleman. He wanted to make sure I was comfortable with everything before moving forward with a new level of our relationship. You have to remember I've never been in a relationship before, so he wanted to make sure I was at ease. But yes, when you rudely interrupted us it was only the third time we had kissed like that." Lannie was blushing as she finished her statement, and reached for the ice cream. Cadman held the carton out of Lannie's reach.

"Just one question. How was it? I know that there are a few female scientists who would be quite jealous of you right now, and so I have to know." She grinned cheekily at Lannie.

"Will you let me have more ice cream if I tell you?" Lannie asked her, pretending to pout. Cadman grinned and nodded, and Lannie sighed slightly and closed her eyes. Opening them again she looked at Cadman.

"Kissing Evanis…..amazing." She breathed, and broke out into a huge grin and started giggling. Cadman joined her in her giggles, and the two sat together on Cadman's bed in a fit of laughter.

"So? Are you going to give me any details, or is that too awkward for you? You know I deserve to know everything, I am your best girl friend around here, you know." Cadman said as her giggles died down. Lannie blushed again.

"Well, I can try. I can tell you about the first time he kissed me." Lannie said. "Ooohhh, I want to know! Was it really sweet and romantic?" Laura gushed.

"Well, it started out that we had a picnic on one of the balconies. We were eating and talking and having a really good time, and then I asked him to teach me how to play football, so he was teaching me how to throw the football, and then he was talking about how a bunch of the military guys here would love to get a game together sometime, and so I jumped on his back to 'practice' tackling him." Lannie paused for a moment to catch her breath and look at Cadman. Cadman was grinning, so Lannie continued.

"Anyway, he reaches behind to grab me and starts tickling me, and then manages to pull me around to his front. We were both laughing, and then all of a sudden we were just looking at each other and then he kissed me."

"So wait, he was still holding you around his waist? Aww, that is so romantic. I would never be able to do anything like that with Carson, not like I would want to. He has a different kind of kissing personality. But we're not talking about me. Go on with your story!" Laura said.

"Well, I don't know what else. We were kissing, and then all of a sudden I sensed Dr. Weir calling him over the radio because Dr. McKay knew where Colonel Sheppard and the others were, and so he had to leave. And that's it. The other time we kissed was today, so there's not much else to tell you. It's interesting, I didn't think I would know what to do, but apparently Evan is a very good teacher, because, well, kissing him is incredible." Lannie blushed and giggled again as she took another bite of her ice cream.

"Well, I have to say, Lannie, you did really well for your first boyfriend. Lorne is a catch, although I'm not really attracted to him, so you never have to worry about me. But good for you, I think that it's great." Laura reached over and gave Lannie a quick hug.

"Thank you. Now, I've told you about my new love life, so tell me about yours! Do you have a date planned with Carson yet?" Lannie asked her. Laura giggled slightly.

"Honestly, I haven't really talked to him yet. I went in earlier to say hello quickly, but he was obviously busy with Teyla and Ronon, so we didn't really get to talk. I'm sure that we'll have a nice little get-together fairly soon. So, I guess I'll have to tell you about that whenever it happens."

"You know, I think you should stay on Atlantis for a while. I get lonely without having a close girl friend to talk to sometimes. I'm not that close with any of the other women, even though I talk to several. It would be nice to have you stay here when the Daedalus leaves." Lannie said to her.

"You know, I always feel like I should stay longer. I hate leaving two weeks after I get here, there's not enough time to ever do anything that I want to. I'll think about it and maybe talk to Colonel Sheppard and Caldwell about it. We'll see what happens." Laura smiled at her.

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The rest of the week passed by calmly. Colonel Sheppard brought Teyla over to the mainland for a visit and decided to stay and 'camp out' for a few days as well. Dr. Weir was reluctant to allow the Colonel to spend much of the week on the mainland, but she eventually relented as long as he radioed in twice a day. Lannie continued running every day with Ronon, and also managed to assist Dr. McKay go through information brought back from MALPS or other teams about different planets that could be worth searching. She had helped him come up with a fairly decent sized list, and even managed to recall certain things about each planet that were discovered by the Ancients.

It had seemed that Lannie had now become a jack of all trades around Atlantis. Seeing as how she knew every piece of technology the City had, it was common for her day to start off working in the Control Room, then going down to the Labs for a good portion of the day, and then even ending up doing some work in the infirmary. She enjoyed assisting everyone not just because it was what she had been created for, but because it gave her a chance to continue developing more friendships with different people in the City. Lannie had been alive for a little over five months by now, and she was still learning things almost daily, as well as teaching many things to others.

Lannie was currently sitting in the Control Room working with the deep space scanner. She barely noticed when the Gate opened up and Major Lorne's team returned from a day off-world. She was so caught up in what she was doing that she didn't notice someone standing behind her.

"Hey." Lorne spoke softly. Lannie startled and turned quickly around. "Major, you scared me." She said to him. He raised his eyebrow at her calling him Major, but then realized that it was because there were people working around them.

"Sorry I startled you, I just wanted to say hi. I have to go get a quick check-up from Beckett, and then I'm pretty much done for the day." Lorne informed her.

"It is alright. I've been working with the scanner for a while, and it might take me possibly a half an hour longer." Lannie said back to him. He nodded and then left the room. Lannie smiled to herself, then went back to work.

-----

Major Lorne was lying on his bed flipping through a book when his doorbell rang. The door opened almost immediately after and Lannie quickly stepped inside.

"Wow, almost exactly a half an hour. I have to say, perfect timing, Lannie." Lorne said as he sat up and swung one of his legs off of the bed. Lannie smiled and walked over to him.

"Well, we do have to keep up appearances. And I did have to finish what I was doing, and I knew it would take about that much time. And besides, I wanted to be sure that you had gotten back here and cleaned up before I arrived."

"Well, that was very good thinking on your part." Lorne grinned and grabbed Lannie's sides. He pulled her down on top of him, wrapping his arms around her waist and lining her up so her face was in front of his. Lannie giggled and rested her arms on the sides of his head. He kissed her lightly and then settled back into his pillow.

"So, what did you do today?" He asked her, lightly running his hand up and down Lannie's back. Lannie smiled.

"Well, for most of the day I was in the infirmary helping Dr. Beckett update all of his medical files. I told him he needs a more efficient filing system, and attempted to help organize everything, but then I sensed that I was frustrating him so I went to the Control Room to see if I could help out there. I ended up giving Dr. Weir another Ancient Lesson and then I was making some observations using the deep space scanner when you showed up. That's pretty much all I did. How was your away mission?" She asked him, playing with the short wisps of his hair. Lorne smiled back at Lannie.

"Eh, it was a typical away mission. Nothing too exciting, just checking out a planet, trying to meet the locals and get on their good side, see if we can't help them out at all." He replied. He shifted Lannie slightly so that her body was next to his but their legs were still entwined. Lannie propped her head up on her arm. "Did you meet the people of the planet?" She asked him.

"No. There looked like there had been a settlement not too far away from the Gate, but I think the people had decided to relocate to somewhere else, and we didn't have a Jumper, so we just had a look around to see if there was anything else of interest and then came back." He brushed a stray piece of hair away from Lannie's face. "You know you might as well leave your hair down sometimes, you have all these loose strands. Besides, you did promise me that you would soon." Lannie blushed slightly.

"When I feel more comfortable. My hair is rather long, I was thinking of asking someone to cut it for me. Then maybe I'll wear it down. But I have to keep it at a length that I can tie back if I ever want to go off-world." She told him.

"You want to go off-world? Where would you want to go? Most of our missions are pretty boring, unless you get to go off with Colonel Sheppard, because then you never know what will happen."

"Well, I don't know what planets that I would want to visit exactly, but I do kind of want to go see M7G-677. The other day I found the mission report from when Colonel Sheppard and his team went there, and I am curious to see how children can live in an organized society, even as primitive as theirs appeared to be." Lannie said. "Although, I suppose most aren't exactly children. I believe the elders are all about my age."

Lorne smiled. "Well, maybe soon you'll be able to get out there. Who knows, maybe I can convince Dr. Weir to let you go out on a mission with me and my team. But I can't make any guarantees." Lannie leaned over and kissed him quickly.

"Thank you Evan, I cannot wait to explore another planet." Lorne chuckled and pulled her in tighter to him. Lannie closed her eyes and relaxed more into his embrace.

-----

"Lannie. Earth and Atlantis to Lannie. Where are you in that brain of yours?" Cadman waved her hand in front of Lannie's eyes. Lannie blinked and focused back onto Cadman's face. She smiled apologetically.

"Sorry Laura. I was just thinking." She said. The two were sitting in the Mess Hall having Lunch. Cadman shook her head.

"Thinking about your beau again, huh? Really nice, Lannie. Here I am telling you that I have a date with Carson tomorrow and I have no idea what to wear, and you're off thinking of your own lovelife. What a great friend." Laura teased. Lannie smiled.

"Well, what are you planning on doing together? I mean, he never wears anything other than his standard uniform, unless you can convince him to wear regular clothing for a day. But it all depends on your activity." Lannie said. "And for the record, I was not thinking about my 'beau', whatever that term means, which I am guessing is code for the Major. What I was thinking was that there is something going on with Colonel Sheppard's team. Dr. McKay just came back through the Gate and is very agitated about something."

"Oh? Do you know what it's about?" Cadman asked, snapping into her military mode. Lannie closed her eyes for a moment, then snapped them back open.

"Colonel Sheppard went through a, hold on, a time dilation field? I believe that is what McKay is explaining to Dr. Weir and Carson right now. He needs to get supplies to possibly get the Colonel back." She paused for a moment, almost listening in to the conversation. Cadman sat quietly, watching Lannie and absentmindedly picking at her food. Lannie shook her head.

"They are going to go back and get him out. Everything will be okay. He is relatively unharmed, I believe." Lannie looked back at Cadman.

"Is there anything we could do to help?" She asked Lannie. Lannie shook her head. "No. Colonel Sheppard will be fine, but because of the time issue they must hurry. It is a shame that Lorne is on the mainland today, he would have been able to fly them to where they need to go."

"You know, this ability of yours is pretty impressive. Does this also mean you can hear pretty much everything that goes on in the City? Because if you do, I think that there are certain things you can ignore for me, you know, being your friend and all I'd like to shield you from, well, possibly inappropriate behavior." Cadman smiled wickedly as Lannie made a face at her. "Laura!" She exclaimed, and both began laughing. The two then animatedly went back to their conversation of Cadman's date, knowing that Colonel Sheppard would be found and brought back to Atlantis safely.

A few hours later, Lannie was sitting in her room working on her computer when her bell chimed. "Come in." She called. She turned to look at the door, which revealed Colonel Sheppard.

"Colonel, please, come in." She said, smiling at him. Sheppard smiled back and entered the room.

"Hey Lannie." He said. He sank down into her couch. Lannie turned in her chair to face him.

"I see you got back in one piece. I'm sorry I didn't get to see your beard, though. I'm sure it looked quite dashing on you." She smiled as he smirked back at her and rubbed at his chin.

"How much do you know about what happened?" He asked.

"Um, most of what happened. Although what you are projecting towards me right now is quite interesting, I have to say." Lannie said, raising her eyes slightly at him. Sheppard shook his head and chuckled at her comment.

"So, why no warning this time? I mean, you found it necessary to warn me about Ford, why not now? I'm just curious." He said.

"Well, what did you want me to say? Don't get sucked into time dilation fields and don't start up a relationship with a woman who's about to ascend? John, you need to realize that although I can sense things that are going to happen, I have to allow them to take place. I cannot warn you, otherwise it would change everything. I thought that you understood that." She said. The Colonel sighed.

"Yea, I understand. I don't know, I just enjoy a head's up every now and then. Although, being there with those people kind of gave me a new sense of appreciation for your abilities. I mean, each person seemed to have one special gift, and here you are with all of them combined. I gotta say it's pretty impressive." He told her. Lannie smiled.

"Thank you John. Sometimes it does seem as if there is too much going on in my brain, but for some reason I am able to handle it." She replied. Sheppard smiled at her.

"No problem. So anyway, I know it's only been a few hours, but for me I've gone six months without seeing a football game. And I know that you have a few of my videos, so I dropped by to get them." Lannie laughed and went over to her shelf. She pulled two DVDs out and handed them to a very eager Colonel.

"Here you go. I hope you enjoy them." She said to him.

"Oh, I definitely will. Thanks, Lannie." With that, Colonel Sheppard flashed her a smile and left her quarters. Lannie smiled after him, then went back to her work. Never a dull moment in Atlantis, she thought to herself.

---------------TBC-------------------

Thoughts? I mention M7G-677 for a reason, it'll play an important role in my next chapter, which could bring a major fight between Lannie and Lorne and also Dr. Weir et. al finding out about the two of them. Stay tuned to find out more!


	19. Stuck in Neverland Part 1

Disclaimer: None of the Characters are mine, except for Lannie and the few children I gave random names to in this chapter.

SPOILERS FOR CRITICAL MASS.

A/N: This is my take on what happened to the off-world team during Critical Mass. This is also my longest chapter to date, and it would have been even longer if I hadn't decided my ending was sufficient to last until the next chapter, which could be long as well. This is basically a part one of possibly three or so, this part of my story has been swirling in my head since I saw Critical Mass and I've been waiting for the right moment to let it out. Remember, Lorne and Lannie are dating. Also, I didn't have time to think of things for Zelenka to say in Czech, so you can use your imagination with some of what he's muttering. I hope you enjoy it as much as I've enjoyed writing it so far, and please review!

Brief Summary: Major Lorne accompanies Dr. Zelenka to the planet with the kids, and Lannie manages to get permission to go along as well. What happens when she starts to become friends with Keras and the team finds they can't go back to Atlantis?

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"Dr. Weir, I do not see any potential risks that would warrant me having to stay here on Atlantis. Please, it is just a simple mission, I will be surrounded by people that I know, and it is a planet with children. I cannot see any harm coming from this mission." Lannie looked at Dr. Weir with pleading eyes. She along with Dr. Zelenka and Major Lorne were sitting in the conference room going over the mission to M7G-677, where Dr. Zelenka was being sent to fix the EM field that surrounded the villages that housed a civilization primarily made up of children. Major Lorne had drawn the short straw and was accompanying him.

"I don't know about this. Lannie, you've never been off-world before, and you don't have much field training, as much as you do practice with Teyla and Colonel Sheppard. And I don't quite understand you wanting to go there." Dr. Weir responded.

"It is a very safe planet, so it would be perfect for my first time off-world. I have wanted to go on a mission for months now, but I did not think that any missions up until this one was safe enough for me. And besides that, I am very curious to see how they live in such an organized manner and I want to see the ruins to see if they possibly explain what was so special about the planet that a ZPM was left there." Lannie answered. Lorne shifted in his seat and spoke up.

"Dr. Weir, while I know why you're hesitant about letting Lannie go, I have to agree with her. For a first time off-world, she picked a pretty safe planet. And we'll only be there for a few hours, if Dr. Z. is right with his predictions." Lorne looked over at Zelenka, who was looking less than thrilled but nodded his head in agreement.

"Lannie could be helpful in getting the ZPM and the EM field working properly again in a timely fashion." Zelenka said. Lannie smiled gratefully at him, then turned back to Dr. Weir. Dr. Weir looked down at the table and sighed slightly, then looked back up.

"Okay. You can go. But you are only going because both Major Lorne and Dr. Zelenka are vouching for you, which means if anything happens I hold them accountable, and I'm sure you don't want that. Dr. Zelenka, when will you be ready to depart?" She asked him.

"Half an hour, tops." He replied, standing up. Weir nodded. "Okay then. Major, I'm sure you'll help Lannie gather whatever she might need." She said. Lorne nodded and stood as well.

"Dr. Weir, thank you so much. I truly appreciate this." Lannie said, grinning from ear to ear. She bounced out of her chair and followed Lorne out of the room.

"Isn't this great? I finally get to go off-world!" Lannie exclaimed to Lorne as they walked down a hallway towards the armory. Lorne chuckled at her enthusiasm.

"Yea, and it's pretty coincidental that you get to go to the exact planet you told me you wanted to visit not a week ago." Lorne cast her a sideways look as they entered the room.

"Hey now, I truly didn't know that this was going to happen. Honestly. Come on, Evan, you saw me when I found out that they had called us for help. And besides," she said, throwing him a devilish look, "I get to see my boyfriend at work. Which makes me even more excited about this trip." Lorne blushed slightly and looked around the room to make sure no one was around.

"I get the picture. But hey, we have to lay down some ground rules." He said, handing Lannie a sidearm and a holster. "We're both on duty, so that means we're professional. You have to address me as Major, and we have to act as if we aren't so, well, we have to act as if we're just friends. I'll be doing my thing and you'll be helping Zelenka. From now on there is a distinct line drawn between us as a couple and us in a working environment. Got it?" He grabbed his own P90 and sidearm and looked at Lannie seriously.

"I understand, sir." She said seriously, but then smiled at him as she finished adjusting the strap of her holster. "Well, since this is the only gun I'm getting I'd better go grab my laptop and a few other things I might need. I'll meet you back in the Gate Room." She said. Just as she was turning away, Lorne grabbed her arm and pulled her back towards her. She couldn't help smile as he kissed her quickly. Pulling back with a smile, he snapped back into his military mode.

"I'll meet you back there in ten minutes. Any later and we leave without you." Lannie nodded and left the armory. Lorne shook his head. This was certainly going to be an interesting mission.

Ten minutes later exactly, Lannie appeared in the Gate Room with her things. Dr. Zelenka was quietly muttering something to himself in Czech, and Lorne was talking with his teammates. Lannie smiled and walked over to Zelenka.

"You know, Doctor, not all of the children are younger. Most are teenagers, and I believe the oldest person there is 25, so if you only talk to him and the other elders it will be easier." She smiled at him. Zelenka looked up at her frowning, but then relaxed slightly. "As long as I can complete my work without anyone breaking anything, I will be fine." He said. Lannie smiled, then looked over to Major Lorne and nodded at him that they were ready. He nodded back, then looked up to the Control Room.

"We're all set." He called out, and then turned to the Gate as it began dialing. Lannie adjusted her bag and picked up a box full of equipment. The Gate swooshed to life, and Lorne stepped forward.

"Okay, let's head out." He said. Two of his teammates stepped through the Gate, followed by two other scientists carrying boxes. Lorne nodded towards Lannie and Zelenka.

"After you." He said, gesturing towards the Gate. Lannie smiled slightly at him and then exhaled and stepped through the Gate. Lorne smiled slightly after her and watched her disappear through the event horizon. He then followed Zelenka through the Gate.

Lannie arrived on the other side and blinked quickly, taking in her surroundings. The sun was shining brightly, and Lannie stepped down the stairs onto a sandy area where the rest of the team was waiting. Lannie was so engrossed in what was around her that she didn't notice Lorne and Zelenka step through the Gate until she heard it close. She looked back quickly at Lorne with a bright smile on her face, and Lorne couldn't help but smirk at it. Lannie was like a little kid at Christmas. Lorne and Zelenka walked down the steps from the Stargate to join with everyone else. Suddenly, two of Lorne's team members drew their guns and pointed them in the direction of the trees. There was some movement, and then a small group exited the woods and walked towards them.

"At ease guys." Lorne said to his men. He stepped forward to meet with the younger man who approached them ahead of his group.

"I'm Major Lorne. I'm assuming you're Keras. Colonel Sheppard says hello and he's sorry he couldn't come here himself, but he has other things to attend to. I hope you don't mind too much." Lorne said to the young man.

"Thank you for Sheppard's greeting. Yes, I am Keras. I welcome you and thank you for your assistance. We keep someone posted around the power source daily now, and the other day they reported that it had begun to flicker, so we sent word to you. I hope you can repair it." Keras responded.

"Well, this here is Dr. Zelenka, and I'm sure he'll and his fellow scientists will be able to fix it in no time." Lorne said, motioning towards Zelenka. Keras turned to the Doctor and smiled gratefully.

"We are all pleased that you can help. Please, follow me." Keras began walking back towards the woods as the other children that had accompanied him ran up to the 'full-growns' and took the boxes from them. Zelenka began sputtering, but Lannie put a reassuring hand out towards him. She turned to the children.

"Please carry these boxes very carefully, if anything in them gets damaged we might not be able to repair the shield, and we certainly don't want that, right?" She asked them. They all nodded in response and began carefully moving the boxes. Lannie smiled after the children, and then looked towards the rest of the group, who were waiting for her and Zelenka. Once they were all together, they began the walk towards the ruins.

"You certainly have a way with the children." Lannie heard a voice next to her. She turned her head to see that Keras had fallen in step with her. "They did not even complain, and now they are being extremely careful." Lannie smiled.

"Actually, I've never spoken with a child before. I think it might be because I am younger than the rest of the team, so they listen to me because they can identify with me." She answered him.

"Perhaps you are correct. I believe that Major Lorne did not properly introduce us." Keras said to her. Lannie blushed slightly.

"Yes, well the Major expects us to fix the ZPM and leave as quickly as possible. But I have to admit that we could have used the formalities. My name is Atlanteá, but you can call me Lannie. Everybody does. I also need to tell you that I am very interested in learning more about your culture here. I read the Colonel's report from when he was here, and I am curious to know more than what he reported." Lannie said, as she carefully weaved her way along the path towards the ruins. Keras smiled towards her.

"Well, Lannie, I hope that I am able to answer all of your questions. We are fairly simple, but if we interest you that much then there must be something about us that we must be overlooking. Are you one of the scientists? I do have to agree with what you said, you do appear much younger than the rest of your group. Even Lieutenant Ford did look a bit older. I would have expected him to come here, actually. How is he doing?" Keras asked. Lannie bit her lower lip slightly and looked at the ground before responding.

"I'm not exactly one of the scientists, but I help them out whenever I am able to, which is why I am here, besides my interest. And about Lt. Ford, he is actually, well, not working with us anymore. He is alive, don't misunderstand, but he has made a bit of a career change, so to speak." Lannie answered carefully. Keras thought for a moment, then nodded.

"I understand. I hope that he is well. Ah, we are approaching the ruins." The group entered the outer edge of the ruins. Zelenka was busy locating the ZPM, and the other scientists were instructing the children where to put the boxes and pulling equipment from them. Lorne and his team were wandering around the perimeter, looking for anything out of place. Lannie looked around the area intently, looking for writings of any kind. The children hurriedly put the boxes down and then either ran off or looked at the military personnel expectantly. A little girl tugged at Major Lorne's pant leg.

"Um, hey there sweetie. What can I do for you?" He asked her, smiling uncertainly at the little girl. The girl looked back up at him with imploring eyes.

"Excuse me sir, do you have any choco-late?" Lorne chuckled as Lannie hid a grin. Lorne crouched down so he was eye level with the little girl.

"Well, I guess today is your lucky day. You see this bag I have here? Well, it just so happens that it is completely filled with Chocolate. But you have to promise me that you will share with all of your friends, okay? Don't keep it all for yourself." The little girl nodded enthusiastically and with a smile, Lorne handed the bag over to her. As soon as she grabbed it the girl took off in the direction of the village followed by the other two children who were still at the ruins. Lorne stood back up and looked over at Keras and Lannie.

"I think you might have a sugar problem on your hands pretty soon. Colonel Sheppard told me how much you all like chocolate here, so he sent a few boxes of it." Lorne told Keras. Keras smiled.

"Thank you. It turns out that we are able to manage a bit of order when we use chocolate as a bargaining tool. I am sure that most of the chocolate will be taken by some of the others on the council to be used later."

Dr. Zelenka hurried over to where the three were standing. "Lannie, I could use your assistance. I cannot translate some of the symbols." Lannie nodded. "Of course. If you will excuse me Keras." She turned to Keras and Lorne. Keras smiled at her, "Certainly." He said. Lorne nodded at her, trying to stay professional. Lannie nodded back and followed Zelenka into the alcove.

"She is very interesting." Keras noted to Lorne. Lorne stiffened slightly, but responded. "Yes, she is. She always wants to learn more about everything."

"How old is she?" Keras inquired. "I asked her earlier but she did not answer. She seems to be younger than everyone else in your group."

"Well, that's actually a bit of a complicated question, but to make it simpler Lannie is 23." Lorne responded, his eyes scanning over the area. Keras looked at him puzzled. "Complicated? How so?"

"I'm sure Lannie will explain if she chooses to. If you'll excuse me, I need to check in with my team." Lorne nodded to Keras and walked off towards his teammates, who were standing together at the edge of the ruins. Something about the way Keras was asking questions about Lannie was not sitting well with Lorne.

Meanwhile, Lannie was studying the device in which the ZPM was located. "Well, I must say McKay certainly did a number on this. I really need to teach him more Ancient so he doesn't break more shields." She commented. Zelenka let out a small laugh. "I've managed to stabilize the shield, but I need to finish off my repairs by putting an energy save on the ZPM. Do you think I can do that?" He asked her. Lannie studied the device for a moment, then pressed a few buttons.

"I'm doing that right now, just give me a moment. How much power should I filter? The ZPM is fairly depleted, and if we wanted to we could attach a small generator to it to assist with the power distribution. Did you bring the small one?" Lannie asked. Zelenka nodded and called one of the other scientists over. "Bring us the generator, we're going to add it on to the power supply." The scientist nodded and took off. Lannie looked up from the console and walked around the enclosed area, pushing growths aside to look at the faded writings.

"Is there anything of interest?" Zelenka asked. Lannie shook her head. "Not really. Dr. McKay got it right when he said that because the ZPM was dying the elders decided on using population control. They wrote everything here on the walls. Other than these writings there isn't much else. Maybe if I ask Keras, he might have some other documentation about their old ways." Lannie said. The scientist returned with the generator, and Lannie and Zelenka went about hooking it up and putting finishing touches on the repairs. They were just turning it back on when Lorne entered the area.

"How are we doing?" He asked. Lannie answered, "We're just turning everything back on. There should be no more problems that I can see occurring. And with the new generator attached they'll manage to have the shield last possibly twice as long as with just the ZPM. I'd say we're done here." She looked over to Zelenka, who nodded.

"Yes, all done. Everything is fixed." "Good." Lorne replied. I'm going to go check in with Atlantis and let them know we'll be back early. Don't forget any of your stuff here." Lorne said.

"Major, may I accompany you to the Gate?" Lannie asked him. Lorne nodded. "Sure. Let's go." The two walked away from the Ruins and down the path towards the Gate.

"So, how are you enjoying the planet?" Lorne asked her. Lannie looked over at him and smiled. "It's wonderful. I am a bit disappointed that we are leaving so soon, I was hoping to ask Keras more questions about his culture."

"Yea, I'm sure. You know, he was asking me a few questions about you as well." Lorne told her.

"Is there something wrong with that?" Lannie asked. "I mean, he is just trying to be a courteous host, and he is very grateful for the help we are giving them. I don't think there is any reason to be on guard." Lorne looked around quickly to make sure no one was around, and then stopped walking and turned to her.

"I'm just watching out for you. You never know what could happen when someone starts asking questions. Besides, I can't exactly help not feel protective of you. Even if we are being professional and on a mission." His voice dropped as he said his last statement. Lannie put her hand on his arm.

"Evan," she said quietly, "there is nothing you should be worried about. And this mission will be over soon enough and then we can drop the formalities and curl up on my couch and watch a movie together. Okay? Now, let's get to the Gate." The two turned and began walking again. In a matter of moments they arrived and Lorne moved over to the DHD.

"Okay, let's phone home." He said. Lannie smiled at his comment as he began dialing the Gate. After all the chevrons were imputed, Lorne pressed the center to activate. All of a sudden, the Gate died down.

"What's going on here?" Lorne said out loud, redialing and getting the same effect. He looked over at Lannie, who had her eyes closed. "Any insight?" He asked her.

"There is something happening on Atlantis. It's too far away for me to know exactly, but it's safe to conclude that we are going to have to stay here until they call for us to come back. I'm sure it won't be that long." She replied, opening her eyes and looking at him. Sighing, Lorne nodded.

"Wonderful. Well, I guess you'll be able to ask all the questions you want now. Zelenka is going to be thrilled about this, I can't wait to hear the Czech swears he'll have to say." Lannie smiled at the comment, and then turned to go down the path once again.

"Okay folks, looks like we're making ourselves comfortable here for a while. There's a problem on Atlantis and we can't dial home, so we're going to wait for them to call us." Lorne said as he and Lannie met back up with the group. Zelenka immediately spouted off a number of Czech swears.

"How long must we wait?" He said finally. Lorne shook his head. "No idea as of yet. Lannie thinks it won't be that long, but no one can be sure."

Keras suddenly spoke up. "If you are unable to return to your home, then please, I invite you all to share a meal with us. You can leave your equipment here, it will be quite safe. Now that the shield is fixed, we will have guards posted around it to ensure that it is not tampered with."

"Thank you for the invitation Keras, I am sure we are all eager to eat." Lannie said, smiling at Keras. Lorne stiffened, but nodded in agreement. Zelenka muttered something again under his breath, but then directed the other two scientists to put the boxes of equipment back with the ZPM. Two of Lorne's men took another box and began following Keras down the trail leading to the village.

"More chocolate, Major? You will ruin all the children's appetites." Lannie said, winking at the Major. He smiled quickly. "Yea, well, what can I say. I never got that much candy when I was a kid, so why deprive others?" He turned and began walking towards the village. Lannie stood there for a moment, shaking her head. "I can only imagine how spoiled your own children will be." She said to herself, although she knew that the Major had heard her.

A short while later the reached the village. Lannie's eyes widened in wonder as she took in the sights of the huts in the trees connected by ladders and rope swings. Younger children ran all over the area playing games, while the older ones were busily starting the fire pits and preparing the food. The sun was slowly setting over the village, and lights from lanterns were being lit, making the village look as if white Christmas lights were all over the area. Lannie was so enraptured that she did not notice Keras joining her where she stood.

"You find this impressive?" He asked her softly. Lannie blinked quickly and looked over at him, smiling enthusiastically.

"Very much so. Everything is so amazing. It's wonderful." She said to him. Up ahead, Lorne had heard them, and said, "This place looks like Neverland. I expect Peter Pan to come flying in at any moment." Lannie giggled softly at the comment but didn't say anything. She and Lorne had watched 'Hook' a few weeks before, and somehow she had managed to get him to admit it was one of his favorite movies. She turned back to Keras.

"Will some of the other Elders be angry with you for bringing full-growns once again into your village? I am surprised that Aries has not confronted us yet."

Keras sighed slightly but smiled again at Lannie. "Aries has decided to go live in another village. He felt that he needed to go elsewhere where his opinions would be taken into greater account, because he felt I was not listening to him. From what I have heard, he is still not getting people to listen to him." Keras gave a half-hearted chuckle, and then walked towards the rest of the group.

"Please, make yourselves comfortable. You are free to look around, and we will have some accommodations ready for you shortly. Our evening meal will also be ready soon. If you will excuse me." With a slight bow, Keras turned and climbed up a ladder that had been extended down from one of the tree huts. Lannie shifted her backpack and started wandering around the village. Children of all different ages ran around her, some of the older ones casting sideways looks at the group in general, but seemingly overlooking Lannie because she was younger than the rest. Soon she felt some small tugs on her pant legs. Looking down, she saw two young children, a boy and a girl, looking up at her questioningly. Lannie smiled at them.

"How old are you?" Asked the little girl. Lannie crouched down so that she was level with the two children.

"I'm 23, how old are you?" She asked. The little girl answered. "I'm Jemma and I'm 5 and this is Micah and he's 3. You're not a full-grown like the others." Lannie smiled and shook her head. "No, I'm not. Did you get any chocolate from the other little girl? If not, you see that man standing over there with the gun?" Lannie pointed to Lorne and the two children nodded. "If you didn't get any chocolate, you can go ask him for some, but you have to promise me that you won't eat it until after the evening meal. Agreed?" The children nodded enthusiastically and ran off to beg Lorne for the candy. Lannie smiled after them and stood up. She finished her walk around the village, stopping in front of the Wraith corpse that still lay in the center of the village.

"We decided to keep it intact. It still reminds us that if we do not care for the shield the Wraith will return. We are indebted to Colonel Sheppard and his team for opening our eyes to why we are so lucky." Keras said, coming up behind Lannie. Lannie continued looking at the bones.

"They are not so intimidating when they are just bones." She commented. "Although I must say, this is the closest I have come to any form of a Wraith, so I consider myself lucky that my first encounter is with one long dead."

"You have never encountered a Wraith either? I would think that since you come from Atlantis with the others you would have, but I can be mistaken." Keras said. Lannie shook her head. "I am lucky. But then again this is my first time on another planet, so anything can happen if I am allowed to continue to go off-world." Keras looked at her puzzled.

"You are not allowed to visit other planets? Why?" Lannie smiled and gave a half laugh. She turned to face Keras. "That is a long story better suited for another time. Are our accommodations ready? I would like to put my bag somewhere where I know it will be safe." Keras nodded.

"Yes, everyone's places are ready. Because you are the only female in your group, you will have a place of your own. I hope you do not mind this, if you would rather something else that can be arranged." He said. Lannie smiled and shook her head.

"Thank you, I will be fine. Where will I be staying?" Lannie shifted her backpack again, as it was starting to become too heavy for her. Keras moved behind her and pulled it off her shoulders.

"Please, allow me. It is this way." Lannie smiled gratefully and followed him to a newly dropped rope ladder. Keras held it for her as she began her ascent. Lannie climbed onto a small balcony, and in front of her was a small hut. The balcony was connected to a few other huts by way of rope bridges suspended in mid-air. Lannie looked around and noticed Major Lorne and his men entering one hut near her and Dr. Zelenka and the other two scientists entering another. She turned as Keras reached the top of the ladder. He noticed her watching the others entering their huts.

"I thought you would be more comfortable if you were in close proximity to the rest of your people. Is this okay?" He asked. Lannie turned to him and nodded.

"Yes, this is fine. Thank you Keras. It is amazing to me how these huts are so stable here in the trees." Keras carefully placed Lannie's bag inside the door of the hut.

"Many of these have been up for generations. We do have to reinforce them every now and then, but they are surprisingly sturdy." He bowed slightly to her. "The evening meal will be soon, so I will leave you until then to relax." He turned from her and began climbing down the ladder. Lannie watched as he descended, then looked back up and around at the huts. Her eyes caught Major Lorne's, who was standing on his own balcony looking around. He smiled slightly at her and nodded his head, and she did the same towards him. Turning to the hut, she bent down slightly and entered.

It was one small room, with a few two-inch thick mats piled up against a wall as a mattress with a few blankets placed at the foot and a parchment-type paper rolled up over the window as a shade. There was also a small table against one of the walls, with a small pillow lying in front of it. Lannie sat down on the pillow and reached for her backpack. She unpacked her laptop and set it up on her table. She turned it on and waited for it to load, then opened a word document and began typing, making notes on everything she had seen so far. Ten minutes later she was still writing when there was a soft knock on the outside wall next to her door.

"Enter." She said, not looking over to see who it was. Lorne pushed away the heavy drape that covered the door and entered. "Hey Lannie." He said. Lannie raised one of her hands to him. "Hang on one minute." She said, as she finished what she had been typing and then saved the document. Turning the computer off, she turned to face him.

"Hey. What's up?" She asked. Lorne was looking around the small room. "Nice place." He commented. "Ours is a little cramped, but then again there are four of us stuck in there. Do you think we'll be here until tomorrow?" He asked her, sitting himself down on the edge of her bed. Lannie nodded.

"Most likely. I have a feeling we're missing out on some good action on Atlantis right now. But think of it this way, we're having a valuable cultural experience and they aren't. We should consider ourselves lucky." Lorne smirked at Lannie's comment.

"I'd rather have the action then be stuck here in Neverland, but oh well. I am glad that you are getting a satisfying first time off-world. Now I don't have to listen to you complain that you didn't have enough time to learn everything you wanted to learn." He laughed and lifted up his arms in defense as Lannie pulled the pillow out from under her and took a swing at the Major. He pulled the pillow away from her and tossed it aside, grabbing one of Lannie's hands as he did so. He pulled Lannie closer to him, and she raised her eyebrows at him.

"Major, we are still off-world, which means we must act professional. We have rules to adhere to." She said to him. He shrugged slightly and winked at her. "Let's just say that we're taking a break from the rules for the next two minutes, shall we? Besides, I miss being with you, as cheesy as it sounds." He pulled her closer to him, wrapping his arms around her waist. Lannie draped her arms around his shoulders and met his lips with hers. Lorne's arms tightened around Lannie as the kiss deepened for the next few seconds, then the kiss ended. Lorne stood up from Lannie's bed and she took a step back from him, both reverting back to their 'we're not in a relationship' mode. Lorne broke the comfortable silence.

"We should be heading down, dinner is ready. I told Keras and the other I would get you five minutes ago, so we should go before they send someone to check on us." Lannie blushed slightly, but nodded and started walking towards the door.

"We will blame it on me, I had to finish up on my computer and turn it off so it would not die. It is a reasonable excuse." Lorne smiled and nodded, and the two left the hut and began the descent down the rope ladder. Once they were both down on the ground, they quickly walked over to where two long tables had been set up. The rest of the Atlantis team was seated in various spots along the tables, in between excited children who were bombarding them with questions. Keras stood quickly from his spot at the head of the table and met with Lorne and Lannie.

"Ah, good, we are all here now. Please, I have seats at the front of the table with me for both of you." He led them back to the table, where there were two empty places opposite of each other. Lannie sat down to Keras's right, and Lorne sat on the other side. Keras stood at the head of the table, and everyone quickly quieted down and turned to look up at him. He smiled, and then spoke.

"We welcome our guests, and thank them for everything they have done for us. Let them being here remind us that we are no longer alone, and that we have friends amongst the worlds who will guard us and keep us safe from the Wraith. We thank them also for the new opportunities that we have. And of course, thank you to all those who prepared this meal, your labor will be rewarded by the satisfaction on everyone's faces once we have had our fill. Now, eat, and enjoy!"

There was a flurry of movement as the children scrambled to grab food off of the platters set on the center of the table. Both Lannie and Lorne reached for platters as well, but Keras put his hands out to stop them.

"Please, we have plates already prepared for you. I'm sure you would not like taking food from plates after many children with dirty hands have had their fill. Here they come now." Five young women came out carrying two plates each, and placed them in front of each of the members of the Atlantis team along with in front of Keras. Lannie smiled gratefully at the girl who handed her a plate, and the girl smiled shyly back at her. Lorne took a hesitant bit of his food, then deemed it to be decent enough and continued eating. Lannie also began eating. The meal was simple, but proved to be quite filling.

"So, is this the special treatment, or do you all have meals together every day?" Lorne asked Keras. Keras finished taking a sip from his glass, then answered.

"We usually have a meal at the same time every day, however we do not all normally sit at one table. There are usually smaller tables spread out over the area with sometimes different things being cooked in each area. Most of the villagers have specific areas where they eat, but it can vary according to who was playing with who that day, or who was invited to eat at which table. It is a rudimentary system, but it is effective. Everyone has a job to do also either at the beginning and end of each meal, whether it be setting it and getting the food to clearing the table and storing it away after the meal. These chores are rotated so that everyone does each job at least once a week." Keras explained.

"Sounds like summer camp." Lorne commented. Lannie smiled to herself and looked around the table. Many of the children were still talking animatedly with the Atlantis team, and the 'full-growns' were relaxing more as they answered the children's questions. Dr. Zelenka was even smiling as he spoke with two teenage boys who were staring at him with awe and admiration.

Turning back to her plate, Lannie took a few more bites then put her fork down and relaxed into her seat. Lorne raised his eyebrows at her, checking to see if she had had enough to eat. Keras also noticed Lannie's still half-full plate. "Is our food not pleasing?" He asked carefully. Lannie shook her head.

"No, your food is actually quite good. It's just that I am a bit of a picky eater, and get full quickly. Honestly, everything is delicious, I am just full already." Lorne nodded in quiet satisfaction. He knew Lannie's eating habits and knew that if she was hungry later she had a few cereal bars that she had brought with her that she could eat.

Keras pondered Lannie's statement, for a moment, then nodded also. "I am sure everyone else will be finished soon as well. And I have seen my share of picky eaters, a few of the children here only eat certain things and refuse to eat others. I am glad that you enjoyed what you did eat. The children will be most excited for their dessert, I do hope you brought enough chocolate for everyone here, there will be great demand for it." He looked over at Lorne. Lorne nodded.

"We have plenty of chocolate, enough to last you a good few months at least if you divvy it out equally. We'll pass some out after we're done here." Keras nodded.

"I believe we are done now." Sure enough, children were standing from the tables with dishes in hand and running over to a giant pot sitting over a fire that was full of water. As soon as the children had cleared their dishes, a few ran off, but others started crowding around the boxes Lorne's team members had left in the center of the village. Lorne gave a half hearted sigh as he stood from the table. The other members of his team also stood and they made their way over to the boxes. Lannie also stood and began piling plates up to bring over to be washed.

"Please, you do not have to do that. I will have some of the older villagers clean all of this." Lannie cut him off with a slight wave of her hand.

"You have been more than kind to all of us, the least I can do is help clean the table after a meal." Keras reluctantly stepped back as Lannie finished gathering the plates and placed them in the hot water. Finishing her task, she wiped her hands on her pant leg and surveyed what was now going on around the village.

A few fires had been started in pits around the grounds. Dr. Zelenka was reluctantly entertaining a few children around one fire by telling them a story, while Lorne was at another fire doing the same thing, only his group was much larger and seemed to be more engaged in the story. The other two scientists were attempting to play simple games with a few other children, and the other soldiers were still handing out candy bars. Lannie walked to a nearby fire that was not occupied and sat down. A few of the older villagers came and sat down with her, asking her questions and answering a few that she had. Soon, most of the very young children had fallen asleep and the older ones stood to carry them to their beds. Lannie poked at her fire and looked into it, engrossed in her thoughts.

"Are you enjoying your evening?" Keras asked, sitting on a log that was next to the one Lannie was sitting on. She turned her head and smiled gently at him.

"Yes, I truly am. I have not had such a rewarding experience like this in my life." She smiled inwardly to herself, knowing that she had only been alive not even six months yet. Keras smiled.

"You said earlier that you had many questions about our culture. I hope many have been answered for you already, but if you have more I am more than happy to answer them for you."

"You are very kind. I did actually just speak with a few members of your council, and they were as informative as they could be, but I am sure that since you are the head elder you would have more answers." Keras blushed slightly.

"Not really, but I can certainly try. Not all of our laws and customs are written down, many are passed on from council to council, and the interpretations tend to vary. There is a place not far from here where we keep the written records safe. Would you like to see them?" Lannie nodded eagerly.

"Yes, that would be wonderful. Is it not too dark to get there? We could always go in the morning when there is better light." Keras smiled, and reached towards the fire to take a large stick out.

"This will be enough light, and I see you have an artificial light with you." He gestured towards her flashlight, which she had attached to her belt. Earlier in the evening Keras had seen Major Lorne show some of the children how it worked, and had barely managed to hang on to it, the children had wanted to play with it so much. Lannie smiled and stood up, Keras stood as well and gestured for her to begin walking towards a trail leading into the woods. They were just about to enter the woods when a voice came from behind them.

"And where do you think you're going?" Lannie turned around to see that Major Lorne had stood up from where he was sitting by his fire and was walking towards them.

"Keras is just showing me all of his people's written texts. It is only a short ways down this path." She explained. Lorne frowned at her.

"At this time of night? I think that would be a better idea tomorrow morning, am I right?" He asked.

"We do not know when we will be called back to Atlantis tomorrow, and I want to at least try to see as much as I can before we have to go. For all we know I could just get there tomorrow and we'd be called back, and I would never have a chance to see them. I promise we will not be gone long, and I have a radio with me if you really want me to come back. Please, Major, I will be fine." Lannie's eyes pleaded silently to Lorne's.

"I promise no harm will come to her Major, I will be with her the whole time. She might have trouble translating the texts, and I can read most of them. We will not be gone long." Keras spoke up. Lorne said nothing for a moment, his eyes going between Lannie and Keras. Finally, he gave a sigh.

"Fine. But I want you back here in no less than three hours, you hear me? Any more than that I will come find you myself."

"Thank you Major." Lannie said, and with a brief smile of gratitude turned and headed down the path. Keras bowed slightly towards Lorne and began down the path as well. Neither of them saw Lorne's eyes darken slightly with slight pangs of mistrust as the two quickly disappeared into the darkness.


	20. Stuck in Neverland Part 2

Disclaimer: No one in either Stargate Universe, Atlantis or SG-1, belong to me. Lannie is my creation, thus is mine.

Author's Note: Well, this story has totally taken over my thoughts and my fingers. I meant to end this at a different point, but I figured that the end here was okay for the moment. It's not as long as the last chapter, but it's still pretty long, and I hope everyone likes it! Also, Major Lorne will probably be a bit OOC, but there's a reason for it, so don't worry! And I apologize if it's a bit angsty, but Lannie's never had to deal with jealousy and the feelings associated with it, so she doesn't know how to deal at the moment. Fear not, though. Please read, enjoy, and REVIEW!

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Once she had begun walking down the path, Lannie pulled her flashlight out from her belt and turned it on. She paused quickly to let Keras take the lead towards where the texts were kept. Her flashlight lit the area around her, casting shadows of the trees above her that secretly thrilled her. Everything about being off-world was a new experience, and she was absorbing everything that she could in the time she had.

Keras soon turned off of the main path onto a less traveled one, and Lannie carefully followed him down. Pointing her flashlight ahead of her, she could see a small building sitting at the end of the path. Keras stopped in front of the door and turned to Lannie.

"Here we are. After you." He gestured for Lannie to enter. Taking a breath, Lannie pushed the door open and shone her light into the room. It was a small room, but larger than Lannie had anticipated. All along the walls were bookshelves filled with different sized volumes, all looking leather-bound and very old. There was a table in the center of the room with a long bench in front of it, and the table contained an oil lantern along with some other books and a quill set.

Lannie crossed into the room and walked towards the table. Keras also entered the room and placed his torch into a post on the wall. Lannie put her flashlight onto the table and reached into her pocket and pulled out a lighter. She checked the lantern to see that there was still some oil in it, and then lit the wick. The lantern glowed brightly, casting plenty of light over the table. Lannie sat down on the bench and began carefully peering over the table at the books. One lay opened in front of her, and Lannie carefully reached out and touched the ancient pages. Keras watched her intently, noticing the sparkle that came into her eye as she started looking over the pages. Cautiously, he sat down next to her.

"I could attempt to read them to you, if you cannot translate them." He offered gently. Not looking up from the book, Lannie shook her head. "No, thank you. I can actually read most of what is here. It's a variation of a language that I know very well." She smiled to herself. Keras nodded, and the two sat in silence as Lannie slowly turned the pages of the text. Every now and then Lannie murmured something quietly to herself in what seemed to be another language. After about a half and hour, Keras attempted to talk to Lannie again.

"Have you found anything of interest?" He asked her. Lannie nodded, quickly looking over at him before looking back at the text.

"Yes, I have. Your civilization was once very large, covering most of this planet. However, the Wraith kept coming back for Cullings and would decimate the lands. A few of the people who lived here among your people are known as 'Ancients', and they managed to acquire a ZPM and then built the machine that controls the shield you have. They told the Elders at the time that the shield would not last forever, and could possibly shrink as well as the power began to fade from the ZPM. The Elders in turn decided to enforce their population control, which back in those times was until the age of 35. Of course, over time the age decreased as the power from the ZPM got lower. It is all quite interesting." Lannie told him. Excitedly, she pulled another book from the table towards her, and opened it. She eagerly read for a few moments, then spoke excitedly.

"See, here? Here it says that your ancestors had a type of democracy. The Elders were the head of the system, and they were all equals, voted upon by age and life experiences by the rest of the community. There was one from each area of life; a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher, a trader, a caretaker. They all decided together equally what was best for your people. Here, it says there was an educational system. Children were taught to read and write, to do math, and were taught social skills that would be important for when they were older and needed to interact with others. The children were not just raised by the family, they were raised by the community through different opportunities and lessons they were availed of. This information is fascinating." Lannie's eyes shone brighter as she learned more about the civilization.

Keras pondered all of this for a few moments as Lannie stood up and walked around the room, looking at all of the volumes on the shelves. Each one at first seemed to be written to cover the events from every ten years, but then they slowly began to spread out over longer periods of time. Each one also seemed to have a different theme, from a census of all the population to all the laws of a certain time to just a general history that had been recorded. Lannie noted that in the beginning the writing was in Ancient, but over time it took on a variation of the language. Lannie gently ran her hands over the covers of the books as she walked past them. Quietly, she said something to herself in Ancient. Keras looked at her quizzically.

"What language were you just speaking?" He asked her. Lannie blushed slightly, then turned to answer him.

"I was actually saying something in the language these texts are written in. It is a very old language, and I'm afraid no one speaks it anymore. There are also not that many that can read it either." She told him.

"But you can." He said. Lannie nodded. "Yes. I'm the only one in Atlantis who can speak and read Ancient, the language written here, fluently." She explained. "Why aren't there others who can do this?" Keras asked her. Lannie sat back down on the bench, and thought for a moment, trying to explain everything properly.

"Colonel Sheppard explained to you that he and his people were from a far away planet, correct?" Keras nodded, as Lannie continued. "Well, where we all live now is called Atlantis, and it was once the home of a race of people known as the Ancients. They were extremely intelligent and very advanced. However, they were at war with the Wraith for many, many years, and were finally forced to leave the galaxy. The majority of them went to the planet where Sheppard and everyone else is from. I, however, am not from that planet. But I am also not from a planet around here either. I am from Atlantis. The only way I can say this is that I was created in the City. It is quite difficult to explain."

Keras nodded slightly. "I think I understand. I actually asked Major Lorne about your age earlier today and he told me also that it was a complicated question. Now I believe I understand why." Lannie smiled slightly.

"Well, I just told you the very basic story. It actually is a bit more complicated, but it is unimportant." Keras looked down at the floor.

"Maybe I believe it to be important." He said softly. He looked back up and stared directly into Lannie's eyes, reaching slowly for her hand. Lannie sat in front of him slightly shocked and confused at his statement. She blinked a few times, trying to understand what Keras had just said. Keras cleared his throat, and carefully began explaining himself.

"I have felt…I knew once I saw you step out of the Wraith Well, the Stargate, that there was something…different about you. I saw how you spoke with the children, telling them what they needed to do without ordering them. I was impressed, especially when you confessed that you have never really spoken with children before. I also noted how your Dr. Zelenka asked you to assist him, as if he did truly value your assistance. I also noted how Major Lorne watched after you, as if he was a protector. I have to say also, seeing how excited you were about wanting to know more about my people, and the kindness you showed to everyone you spoke with this evening, well, I cannot help but find you intriguing." Keras confessed to Lannie.

Lannie blushed furiously as she contemplated what Keras was telling her. She had noticed his interest in her growing slightly throughout the evening, but she had been too preoccupied with learning to notice. Thoughts flew through her mind as she attempted to answer back to Keras's confession.

"Keras." Lannie began, smiling apologetically at him. "I apologize if I have seemed to lead you on in any way. That was not my intention at all. While it is true that I have enjoyed your company greatly today, it was not my intention to forge any type of relationship other than friendship. Please, let me explain." Keras had attempted to interrupt Lannie's little speech.

"I told you that this was my first time on another planet. The reason for this is because I have not actually been alive for the twenty-three years that I seem to have lived. In truth, I have only been awake and conscious for about six months. When I said I was created by the City, I meant that literally. Atlantis' leader allowed me to come here because yours was a safe world, and one where I could learn more about other cultures. Every emotion I have felt since I have gotten here, my excitement, my wonder, all of that is because I am not on Atlantis. Everything is new and different, and I feel as if I am truly living." She paused to take a breath as Keras slowly began understanding what Lannie was trying to explain.

"I understand that you find me to be interesting. And in all honesty, I find you to be equally as interesting. But not in a romantic type of way that I believe you are feeling. I am truly sorry if I am causing you any distress. I do not mean to completely cut all ties with you, I do truly want to be your friend and learn more about you and your people, but I am afraid that we can go no further than friends." Lannie shrugged her shoulders apologetically. Keras smiled understandingly at Lannie.

"It is all right, I understand. I just felt that you should know. I believe that I will truly value your friendship, should it continue to grow." Lannie smiled back at him. Her eyes widened suddenly, and she quickly looked at her watch.

"Keras, we must be heading back now. Major Lorne only gave me three hours, and it has already been two. I do not want to upset him by not coming back on time, I know he will be waiting up to see me return." Quickly, she gathered together what she had brought and stood from the table. Turning back to Keras, she asked him, "Would it be okay if tomorrow I return here in the morning and take a few pictures of the books? I have a camera back in my bag, and I wanted to have your permission. The pictures do not harm the books, they are just images for me to bring back to Atlantis." Keras nodded.

"Of course. Now, we should be going." The two left the building and began the short walk back to the village.

Lannie could sense Major Lorne as soon as she reached the edge of the village. He was sitting in the shadows on his balcony, looking out towards the path that Lannie and Keras were coming from. Lannie could not tell what the Major was feeling, since she was so caught up in her own thoughts.

The entire day had been a whirlwind of events and emotions, and Lannie just wanted to lie down and clear her head. It was always easier for Lannie to think at night, the majority of the people on Atlantis were asleep, and most of the technology was turned off at night as well. At night Lannie did not have to worry about hearing people's thoughts, nor did she have to worry about getting a headache or something else when a piece of technology was used incorrectly. As much as Lannie loved being so connected to the City, she loved these seemingly quiet moments when she was left with her own thoughts. It was no different here on this planet, where the many thoughts of the children had invaded her brain all day.

Keras walked with Lannie towards the ladder leading up to her hut. Once they reached it, he turned to face her.

"I hope you enjoyed your day today. I also hope that you learned everything that you wanted to learn." He said. Lannie smiled kindly at him.

"Yes, I did. Thank you so much Keras for being so kind as to indulge me." He gave a half-laugh, then shifted his body slightly awkwardly.

"Lannie, I am…I just wanted to apologize for my forwardness earlier. I just…" Lannie cut him off by placing her hand on his arm. In the darkness Major Lorne's eyes darkened with resentment as he watched what was happening on the ground below him.

"Keras, please. You do not need to apologize for anything. And I must thank you again for showing me the texts. I do have to go though, Major Lorne is waiting for me to radio him that I am back." Keras nodded, looking seriously at her. "He does keep a special eye out for you, doesn't he?" Lannie nodded slightly.

Keras sighed a little. "I suppose I should have guessed, he was very reluctant to let you go with me tonight to see the books. But I suppose if I were looking at you the way I saw him looking today I would act the same way. Everything makes more sense now." Lannie gave a half hearted smile at Keras, and Keras returned the same smile towards Lannie. "Well, I shouldn't keep you." He said. Lannie smiled softly and gently squeezed Keras's hand.

"Goodnight Keras." She said. "Goodnight Lannie. Sleep well." With that Lannie began climbing up the ladder to her hut, and Keras turned and slowly walked over towards the ladder to his own home. Slowly Lorne stood up from where he had been sitting and quietly began walking across the rope bridge towards Lannie's hut.

Lannie climbed onto her balcony and sat there for a moment as she pulled the ladder up behind her. Once that was done, she took one more look around the village, taking everything in as the last of the fires in the pits below died out and the stars peeked through the leaf coverings above her head. She sighed contently to herself.

"Did you have a nice walk?" Lorne's voice startled Lannie slightly. She stood and turned to face him. He stepped out of the shadow cast onto the bridge, and Lannie could see the somber look in his eye. The smile she had slowly faded a little.

"Yes. Keras showed me all of his people's written history. It is very interesting, most is written in Ancient, or a variation of Ancient. I was able to read it very easily." She said to him.

"I'm sure that he was very eager to show you everything." Lorne said slightly sarcastic. Lannie looked him straight in the eyes.

"Yes, he is proud of his history and wanted to share it with someone who was equally as interested. He was also very forward with all of his explanations and questions, unlike someone else that I know."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lorne asked, walking closer to her. Lannie bit her lower lip before answering him. "It means that you are acting in a way I have never seen you act, and I know that you have something on your mind but you would rather make sideways accusations rather than ask me outright. You know that I would answer you honestly, Evan. I do not lie to you. Ever."

"You know, I'm really not ready to have this conversation with you right now Lannie. Let's both cool off a bit tonight and whenever we get back to Atlantis tomorrow we can sit down and talk, alright?" Lorne said. Lannie rubbed her eyes, which had started to water slightly. "Alright." She answered him. Lorne looked into her eyes, which were still slightly glistening. He gently reached out his hand and brushed the side of her face. Lannie wistfully closed her eyes as he did this, but then opened them and moved away from his touch.

"Goodnight, Evan." She said softly, turning towards her hut. She entered quickly, not waiting to hear his soft goodbye. Lorne reluctantly returned to his hut as Lannie quickly discarded her jacket and lowered herself onto the bed. Pulling the blankets over her, she sighed sadly and then closed her eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Lannie awoke slowly the next morning, the early morning sun shining onto her face. She sat up slowly, and looked at her watch. It was approximately 8:00 by Atlantis time. She could hear faint sounds of the village already awake, children were already at play while others were working around the village. Lannie slowly got herself out of bed and pulled her jacket on, feeling slightly chilly in the morning air. She quickly pulled her hair back up into a ponytail and stepped onto her balcony, squinting slightly at the brightness outside. Down below, she could see all the people from Atlantis gathered around a small fire eating breakfast. Lannie sighed slightly and then dropped her ladder and climbed down, landing on soft earth.

Lannie walked over to where the group was sitting. She sat down on the only empty log, which was right next to Zelenka and across from Major Lorne. He looked up briefly from his food to look at her, but then went back to eating and talking with the rest of his team, deciding what to do that day. Lannie reached forward and grabbed a plate from next to the fire and helped herself to what seemed like oatmeal that was heating over the flames.

Lannie cautiously took a bite, finding it rather bland but edible. She made a mental note to eat the cereal bars that she had in her bag later. She attempted to pay attention to the conversations around her, but found that she just couldn't. Whether he meant to or not, Lannie could sense Major Lorne's feelings of hurt from across the fire. They mingled with her own feelings of confusion and sadness, and as quickly as she could she finished eating and then returned to her hut to gather her things, stuffing everything inside of her backpack hurriedly. She had yet to see Keras that morning, which was fine, because it was one less confusing emotion floating through her head.

Lannie climbed down the ladder again and took one look around the village. A few of the children had gone over to where the adults were and were attempting to pull Zelenka and the other scientists to their feet. Major Lorne was also being begged to join in their playing, and he was showing more signs of enthusiasm about it than Zelenka was. Two of Lorne's team mates were already making their way back to the Gate, to wait for Atlantis to call them back. No one noticed as Lannie walked towards the path that led to the Text Building.

It was easier to get to in the daylight, however the building appeared more worse for wear than at night. Lannie entered the building and saw that daylight was streaming into the room from windows high up on the walls, in between the book cases. Lannie walked over to the table and sat down on the bench, pulling her bag off of her shoulders and placing it next to her. She quickly pulled her laptop out and then dug around for her digital camera, her latest gift from the SGC. It had been sent to her this time by a Dr. Daniel Jackson, to whom she had sent many pages of properly translated Ancient Text. Dr. Jackson had sent Lannie the camera in order for her to take pictures of the city and of the different pieces of technology so that he could see it for himself, since he was unable to visit.

Lannie turned the camera on and checked to see if she had a full memory card. She had taken only five pictures, and she quickly scrolled through them. There was the first one, which was a picture of the sunset from her balcony. She was amazed at how the image had captured the exact oranges, reds, and yellows that streaked across the sky as the sun set. There was one of her and Lt. Cadman, as Cadman had helped her learn the basic functions of the camera.

The other three were of Lannie and Major Lorne. Lannie scrolled through each slowly, biting her lower lip as she did so. The first one was of the two of them on her couch, leaning into each other and smiling. The next one was similar, only Lannie was laughing due to Lorne tickling her as she took the picture. Lannie smiled slightly as she remembered the moment. The last one she stared at for a while. She and Lorne were still sitting on the couch, but this time Lannie was sitting in Lorne's lap, eyes closed and smiling softly, facing the camera while he was turned slightly, gently kissing her cheek. Lannie touched the small screen almost reverently, but then ended the review and turned the camera back to its taking picture mode.

Lannie began walking around the room, taking images of the bookshelves filled with the different volumes. Every so often she would take a book down and take a few pictures of the pages, whatever she thought would be interesting for her to study later. Once she had finished with the books on the shelves she went back to the books on the table. She turned their pages gently as she took picture after picture of what lay before her.

Sitting down again, she absently reached into her bag and grabbed a cereal bar, eating it as she reviewed all the pictures she had taken. She knew that many people would be interested in everything she had recorded, and she needed to download the images onto her computer in order to take more pictures. Turning to her computer, she quickly turned it on and reached into her bag to get the transfer cable. Within a few minutes she was transferring all of the pictures, not noticing the door behind her opening.

"Lannie." Startled, Lannie jumped up and whipped around, looking at the figure that was standing in the doorway. Lorne walked into the room, his face blank of emotions as he quickly looked around and then settled his sight back onto her.

"Major, you scared me half to death!" Lannie exclaimed, breathing heavily. Lorne's eyes narrowed and he said levelly, "So, this is why you've been gone for over the last two hours? You couldn't even tell anyone where you were, you just decided to come out here by yourself. I've had search parties combing the entire forest looking for you! We even had to call Keras back from a council meeting in another village to help search, and he was the one that suggested you were here." Lorne's voice rose slightly, but he still did not display any emotion. Lannie lowered her head.

"I am sorry, I just wanted to come here and document as much as I could before we were called back home. I forgot to let anyone know, and I apologize."

"Well, it's a little late for an apology right now. I had all those children out there looking for you! This is just what I needed to be writing in my report, that I lost the most important thing on Atlantis, one that was put in my direct care! I'm responsible for you out here Lannie, and now I'm probably going to be reprimanded for losing you!"

Lannie's eyes filled with tears as she continued looking at the ground. She had never seen Lorne upset, and he had told her he rarely got angry, unless it was for good reason. Apparently this was one of those times. "I'm sorry." She whispered. Behind her the computer made a noise signaling that the download of the pictures was complete. Lorne noted the noise.

"Well, it's good that you're sorry. But I don't have time to discuss this with you right now, because we got called back to Atlantis. Apparently their little crisis is over. Grab all of your stuff, and let's get going." Turning, Lorne left the room to stand outside. Lannie wiped her eyes quickly, then turned and shut her computer down and turned her camera off. She repacked her bag, and then slung it over her shoulder. She walked to the door, and took one last look at the library in front of her. She turned and stepped onto the path, and slowly began following Major Lorne back towards the Stargate.

After a few very uncomfortable minutes walking down the path, Lannie and Lorne stepped into the open area surrounding the Gate. The rest of the team was there, along with Keras and a few other villagers. Dr. Zelenka hurried over to the two of them.

"Lannie, thank goodness. Can we leave now?" He was angry, but Lannie realized quickly that it wasn't directed towards her. Dr. Zelenka had face paint on and his hair had been done up crazily. Lannie stifled a smile and noted that everyone else was decorated similarly. Lannie snuck a quick glance at Lorne and realized that he also had face paint on, but it was no where near as elaborate as Zelenka. The three of them walked up to the rest of the group. Keras stepped forward.

"Lannie. I'm glad that you were found. I take it you were in the Text Building?" Lannie nodded slightly to him. Keras smiled. "Well, I am glad that you are well. May I have a moment to speak with you before you leave?" He looked towards Major Lorne, who was still frowning.

"Fine. But make it quick, Lannie, I'm going to go dial Atlantis now." Lorne answered for her. Lannie did not acknowledge him, but instead followed Keras to a spot a few feet away. Keras turned to her and attempted a smile.

"Lannie, just wanted to let you know that I knew you were fine, but Major Lorne was very upset, as much as I tried to reason with him."  
"Yes, I'm sure I'll have a ton more apologizing to do when we get back to Atlantis. Lucky me." Lannie said sarcastically. Keras frowned slightly.

"Even so, I wanted to say goodbye to you personally. I hope that you can visit here again soon, you know you will be welcome with open arms and the Text Building will be waiting for you." Lannie smiled softly at Keras's statement. He reached down to his satchel that he had with him, and pulled out something wrapped in a cloth.

"This is for you," he said, handing it to her. "I would suggest looking at it now, but I know that you need to be going back to your home. So open it there, and I hope you like it." Lannie looked up at him, smiling.

"Thank you Keras. And hopefully I will be able to return. But until then." Lannie reached out and hugged Keras tightly, and after a second Keras responded and hugged Lannie back. Lannie turned her head and gently kissed Keras's cheek, then pulled away.

"Goodbye, Keras. Thank you for everything." She said. He smiled broadly at her, and then took a step back. Lannie turned and walked back over to her group, putting the gift into her bag, and noting that Lorne was taking all means to avoid her. The gate whooshed to life, and with one last look at the children waving excitedly and Keras smiling, Lannie picked up one of the boxes they had brought and stepped through the Stargate.

--------TBC----------

So, this was an okay ending point, and the next chapter will probably have a verbal fight between Lannie and Lorne, sorry(!), but who knows what can be revealed and who hears it and becomes involved! Please Review!


	21. Tense Moments

Disclaimer: Only Lannie is mine.

Author's Note: So this is supposed to be the part two to the last chapter, and I have to say I worked for a while on it because I needed to get all the dialogue just right. I hope I did, because I had so many variations running through my head. So, this is angsty, this is sad, and this is a completely shocking cliff-hanger! So read on, and Review!

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Lannie couldn't help but smile slightly as she rematerialized on the other side of the Gate. She was finally back home. She closed her eyes and breathed in as all the information about what was going on in the City flooded back into her mind. Being away from all of this left a gap in her mind that she had actually missed. The rest of the team materialized around her, and the scientists quickly took off towards their rooms, most likely to wash off their face paint.

Lannie sensed Lorne step next to her. "We need to talk about everything. I'll come by your room in an hour." With that, he took off down the hallway. Lannie sighed sadly, the smile disappearing from her face. She looked up to see Colonel Sheppard enter the room.

"Hey kiddo, good to see you back in one piece! I guess you were lucky and the kids didn't get their hands on you." He said, winking at her. Lannie tried smiling brightly, hoping John wouldn't notice the sadness in her eyes.

"Yes, I was very lucky. I wasn't there when everyone was ambushed. The children were quite creative." Sheppard didn't fall for the false happiness, and his eyes narrowed slightly at her. "Are you okay? You don't seem too happy to be back or something." The two of them began walking down the corridor.

"No, actually, I am quite happy to be home. I missed Atlantis greatly, even if I was only away for 24 hours." She said.

"Then what's going on, Lannie? You know you can tell me anything. Within reason, of course." Sheppard joked. Lannie sighed.

"I think I broke protocol, and picked up on your 'Kirk syndrome', as Dr. McKay calls it."

"Hey now." John said, but smiled. "So, let me guess, you and Keras?" He asked. Lannie sighed heavily and stopped walking, standing in front of a window.

"We became friends, and it turns out he also found me quite… intriguing. He was asking Major Lorne questions about me, and I don't think the Major enjoyed the inquiry. I think I might have also broken a few rules that made him more upset with me." Lannie explained quietly to Sheppard as she stared at the window. John put his hands on his hips and stepped closer to Lannie.

"Lannie, first of all I don't officially know what your relationship with the Major is, so let's keep it at that for the moment. Second off, Lorne is one of the most laid back guys I have ever met, so I'm sure that if you two sit down and talk everything will be alright. And about Keras? You should feel honored that he found you intriguing. You are pretty special, and he was smart enough to realize that."

"I suppose. But what exactly was going on here? There was a bomb? All of the information in my head isn't very organized or detailed." Sheppard sighed slightly.

"You know how you were always a little unsure of Colonel Caldwell? Well it turns out he was an unwilling host to a Goa'uld, who tried to rig the ZPM to explode when we dialed Earth. Everything was discovered right on time, but we had to shut off the Gate, which is why you were stuck out there. Everything is all taken care of now, though."

John put a reassuring hand on Lannie's shoulder. "Don't worry about all this too much Lannie, everything is back to normal. Go back to your room, take a nice hot shower, and relax. I have to go see Dr. Weir right now, but I'll check in with you later, okay?" With a grin, Colonel Sheppard took off back towards the Control Room. Lannie smiled slightly after him, then began walking back to her room.

As soon as Lannie stepped into her room, she dropped her backpack and threw her jacket onto the bed. She wearily went into the bathroom and quickly threw her clothes into a pile and stepped into her shower. Turning the hot water on, she stood there like a statue as she silently prayed for the water to wash away all of the problems she seemed to have accumulated in the last 24 hours. She stood under the water for a few minutes longer to clean herself completely, then turned the water off and stepped out. She grabbed her bathrobe and pulled it on, then went over to her sink. Mindlessly, she began brushing her hair out. As if she was on autopilot, Lannie went back into her room and went to her closet for a change of clothes, quickly changed, and went back to brushing out her hair. She was startled suddenly by a knock on her door.

"Enter." Lannie stepped out of her bathroom just to see Major Lorne enter her room, the door closing quickly behind him. She slowly put her brush down on the end table nearest her.

"Hi." She said. Lorne shifted uncomfortably. "Hey." He responded. Lannie awkwardly gestured to the couch. "Um, please, sit down. I guess we need to have our talk now."

"Yea. We do." Lorne agreed, sitting on the couch. Lannie went and sat on the edge of her bed, facing Lorne. She waited for him to begin.

"Lannie." Lorne began, sighing. "I've been thinking about what happened on the planet. And, well, I do admit that I got a bit jealous of your friendship with Keras." Lannie gave a half smile as Lorne paused. He leaned forward. "Lannie, I don't want to be fighting with you about this." Lannie looked up into Lorne's face. His blue eyes were almost a grey color, and they looked sad. Lannie looked at him puzzled.

"Evan?" She questioned. Lorne sighed.

"Lannie, can I ask you a question? And I need an honest answer from you."

"Evan, you know that I am always honest with you. I do not lie. What's your question?" She responded.

"Okay. When you went to that building with Keras, what happened? Beyond you looking at all those old books." Lannie sighed slightly angry and looked straight at Lorne.

"I was looking at all the texts, and I started saying something in Ancient, and he asked about it. So I explained a little about who the Ancients were, and then he started asking more questions about me, saying that you had refused to tell him much. So I told him the most stringent details about me, and then brushed it off saying that I wasn't that interesting. He countered, saying that I was, and then he told me that he was interested in me. I gently turned him down, saying I just wanted a friendship. And he was fine with it, he just wanted me to know." Lannie stopped what she was saying, deliberating whether to tell him how Keras knew that there was something between her and Lorne.

"Can I ask you something else?" Lorne interjected quietly. Lannie nodded.

"If we weren't together, would something have happened between you and him?"

Lannie was caught off guard by the question. She hadn't given it much thought when Keras had confessed, because she knew it was the best thing to just be his friend. But know…

"I…uh, I don't know. Maybe." Lannie confessed quietly, looking down at the ground. Lorne leaned back slightly. "I thought so." He whispered. The two sat in an uncomfortable silence for what seemed like an hour, but only about five minutes actually passed. Finally, Lorne broke the silence, leaning forward slightly and looking back up at her.

"Lannie, I've thought about everything that happened. And I think that for the moment it's best that we weren't together as a couple."

Lannie sat upright, shocked at his decision. In the last few months, Lannie had been able to sense people's thoughts, and sometimes knew what they were thinking and feeling and what they were going to say. She had never 'read' Lorne, and now being caught so off guard made her slightly regret her decision.

"What do you mean, we shouldn't be together? You're breaking up with me? That's the term you use, right? I don't understand, Evan. Why are you making this decision?"

Lorne sighed heavily again. "Lannie, hear me out. I'm the first person you've ever felt any type of romantic attraction to. But I know that you were attracted to Keras. And after seeing that, and hearing you just say you would have considered something with him, I realized that you weren't experiencing everything you could be, because you basically had settled with me. Lannie, as much as I care about you, I can't let you do that. You need to experience things, meet more people, maybe even have other relationships. If we're meant to be, then we'll get back together, but right now, we're not right." Lorne stood up and started pacing around the room. Lannie, who had been biting back tears before this, now began crying, a sensation she had not experienced yet.

"But, I want to be with you. I don't want to be with anyone else. I can experience plenty with you, and not with other people, I don't want other people. Evan, please, don't do this. Please. I care so much about you, and loosing you, I don't know how I would be able to deal with it. Evan." Lannie cried.

Lorne stood in front of her, his own eyes welling up slightly. "I'm sorry, Lannie. But it's for the best." He leaned down quickly and gently kissed the top of Lannie's head, smiling bitterly at the fact that she had her hair down in front of him for the first time. He then turned and left her room. Lannie sat on the edge of the bed and cried. She had no idea of how much time was going by, or that in her devastation certain pieces of equipment throughout the City were malfunctioning. All she knew was that suddenly she felt two arms wrap around her shoulders, and a voice attempting to sooth her.

"Lannie, Lannie, shush, its okay. It'll be okay." Lt. Cadman's voice quietly calmed Lannie down, so that she wasn't crying anymore, although she was still taking gasps of breath.

"Lannie, you need to calm down a bit and breathe. Nice and slow, come on." Laura looked at her friend worriedly. She knew something had been amiss when Lorne had radioed her and asked her to go be with Lannie. She had questioned it, but he had threatened to make it an order, so she silently complied and had raced to Lannie's room to see her friend a wreck.

The two girls sat in silence for a few minutes. Finally, when Laura thought that Lannie had calmed down enough, she began to calmly talk to her.

"Lannie, do you want to tell me what happened? Did you and the Major have a fight?" Lannie nodded slowly. Laura took a breath. "Are you two still fighting? What was it about?"

Lannie shuddered slightly, then said in a raspy voice, "Lorne broke it off. He said that I need to have other relationships, that I couldn't just settle with him and not see what else is there." She laughed bitterly. "He thinks that if we weren't together something would have happened between me and Keras."

"Keras? The guy from M7G-677? You had a thing for him?" Laura asked her, slightly confused. Lannie shook her head animatedly.

"No, I didn't, because I'm with, or was with Evan. But Evan caught me off guard, and asked me if we hadn't been together if something might have happened, and because I said maybe, he decided that he was holding me back or something and broke it off." Lannie's eyes were dry and she felt completely numb. Laura gently rubbed Lannie's back.

"I don't know what to say, Lannie. I can't really give you any advice because he's my senior officer and I don't need to be getting on his bad side. But I am here for you. And when I'm off duty we can definitely do some Lorne-bashing." She chuckled slightly. "But I can tell you this. What's meant to be is meant to be. Nothing can change that. So if you're supposed to be with him, he'll realize and come back to you." Lannie gave a weak smile of gratitude, and Laura squeezed her into a tighter hug.

"Okay, do you feel a little better? I have an idea. I'm going to go to the Mess and get us some ice cream, okay? Trust me, it will help."

"Okay. And you can tell me everything that happened while I was gone. I have a feeling I missed out on some good stuff." Laura stood up smiling. "You bet," she said, and with one last look at Lannie, left the room and headed towards the Mess. Lannie sighed heavily and lay back on her bed, staring at the ceiling.

-------

The next week or so seemed to go by in a numb blur. Lannie constantly felt as if she were just going through the motions every day. It was convenient however that she and the Major were doing a very good job at avoiding one another. The only time they had been in the same room for a long period of time was during the debriefing, and even then Lannie barely talked, only saying that she had taken pictures as documentation and was going through them to see if there was anything of interest. Lorne had also been very stoic, although he gave his full report as if everything was okay. Lannie had left the debrief immediately after it ended, saying that she wanted to get started on the translations.

In truth, Lannie had been working on translating all of the text she had documented. She had managed to take a little over 100 pictures, and so she had enough to keep her occupied. It also helped that she could do the majority of it either in her room or in a lab, both places the Major no longer frequented.

Lt. Cadman was a constant source of friendship. The two ate meals together frequently, unless Cadman was having dinner with Dr. Beckett. Lannie was grateful, especially when she could go for an hour without thinking about the fight and the break-up. Lannie also was spending more time with Teyla, practicing or even just spending time learning more about her culture. She also busied herself in the lab with Dr. Zelenka and Dr. McKay, who was more and more begrudgingly treating her as an equal on Ancient knowledge.

Today Lannie was sitting in the Control Room next to her Technician friend, and was actually smiling as the two of them worked and talked. Lannie did stiffen, however, when the Gate activated and Major Lorne's IDC came in. She quickly immersed herself in what she was working on, only glancing up for a second to see the Major step through the Gate. Lannie and the Tech continued their conversation as Lorne walked up the stairs and into the room. He stood behind the two of them, fidgeting slightly. Lannie attempted to ignore him as he addressed the Tech.

"Did you get the data stream we sent before we came back?" The Tech looked over at Lannie, who had been the one to receive it. Turning her head but not looking at him, she replied,

"Yes sir, we received it. Where do you need it to be sent?" Lannie turned back to her computer, avoiding the slightly hurt expression in Lorne's eyes.

"Um, it needs to be sent to a few people. I can tell you all of them if you want." He replied. The Technician stood from his chair.

"You can sit here, Major. I have to go see Dr. Weir about something." With a quick look at Lannie, the Tech stood and walked towards Weir's office. Lorne sat down and faced Lannie. Lannie typed something on her computer and didn't look back at him.

"Who needs the information?" She asked, very business-like. Lorne's shoulders sagged slightly.

"Lannie." He said softly. Lannie paused slightly in her typing, but then continued with her work. Lorne tried again. "Can't you even look at me? I know we've been avoiding each other, but the least you can do right now is acknowledge me. There are people around."

Lannie turned her head and stared into his eyes defiantly. "I apologize, _Major_." She emphasized his rank angrily. "Where would you like the data to be sent?" She asked again. Lorne's eyes narrowed.

"Why are you acting like this?" He asked, his voice rising slightly. Lannie stared back at him dumbfounded. "I'm doing my job, what more do you want from me?" She asked him. He shook his head.

"Never mind. This isn't going to work. I can send the list to someone later. Forget it." Lorne began standing up.

"No, Lorne, what did you just mean? I know it has nothing to with the data. What isn't going to work?" She asked him, slightly irritated and her voice rising. Lorne sighed as he stood there.

"I just thought that we could start talking again. I don't know, maybe I thought we could even try being friends again. I guess I shouldn't have bothered." He replied. Lannie's eyes looked as if they were on fire.

"You don't get to be my friend right now, Major. So no, you shouldn't have bothered. Do you know how I feel right now? You probably don't seeing as how you've been acting as if nothing's wrong while I've been walking around in a fog. So no, you don't get to talk to me, and you certainly do not get to be my friend!" She yelled this last sentence, causing Dr. Weir to leave her office and come into the Control Room.

"Lannie." Lorne tried to calm her down, but it was too late.

"Is there a problem here?" Dr. Weir asked. Lannie was looking angrily at Lorne, but managed to reply.

"No ma'am. Everything is just fine."

"I don't think it is, actually. Why don't the two of you come into my office right now." Weir responded, tilting her head in a stern manner. Lannie sighed heavily and walked briskly into the office, followed by Lorne and Dr. Weir. She sank into one of the chairs in front of Weir's desk and Lorne sat down on the couch. Dr. Weir looked over the two of them, frowned slightly, and then activated her radio.

"Colonel Sheppard, can you come to my office for a moment?" She called. Hearing the reply, she nodded to herself and then sat down behind her desk.

"Ma'am, it really isn't necessary to call Colonel Sheppard here. This is an issue that should be resolved somewhere else." Lorne looked apologetically at her. Weir gave a half smile, but shook her head.

"Actually, I think the best thing to do is get everything sorted out now so that we can avoid scenes like what just happened." Weir looked pointedly at Lannie, who shrank into her seat.

"Sorry Dr. Weir." Lannie said softly, playing with the zipper of her jacket.

"Well Lannie, I accept you apology, but I think you need to explain what exactly happened back there." Elizabeth said, as Sheppard entered the room.

"What's going on?" John asked, looking at everyone's uncomfortable positions around the room. He stood by Weir's desk.

"Lannie and Major Lorne had a verbal altercation just now in the Control Room, and I thought it best that we know what's going on so that we can avoid any further displays." Elizabeth answered him. John nodded slightly.

"Actually, I've been wondering what's been going on with the two of you since you came back from M7G-677. The two of you were pretty close, but ever since then you've been avoiding each other." Sheppard said, and then looked at the both of them. Lannie had her arms crossed in front of her and was looking at the floor, so Lorne sighed and started to explain.

"Well sir, the only way to explain this is to tell you the entire truth. While we were on M7G-677, Lannie became very good friends with Keras, and I'm not proud of this but I got jealous, so when we came back here I broke things off with Lannie." He paused, looking for a way to better explain everything.

"Wait a minute. Broke things off? The two of you were dating?" Weir asked, leaning forward on her desk. Lorne nodded.

"Yes ma'am." He replied. Weir blinked, caught off guard. "For how long before this break?" She asked. Lorne looked over at Lannie.

"Two months." Lannie said softly before Lorne could reply. He just quietly nodded his head as Dr. Weir sat back in her seat, absorbing all this new information. Lorne continued his explanation.

"We haven't talked much, actually not at all since I broke things off, and so today was the first time we had to interact. I pushed a little too much by trying to talk about something not work related with Lannie. She had every reason to yell at me, and I'm sorry that we caused a scene." He said. Weir sighed and looked over at Sheppard.

"Did you know about this?" She asked him, raising an eyebrow slightly.

"Not officially." He told her truthfully. "However, unofficially I did know that something was going on with them. I figured it was better for everyone if I didn't officially know."

Weir nodded. "Well, you know that I have no issues with personnel dating as long as it doesn't interfere with their jobs. However, I believe that this is a bit of an interference. Lannie, can I ask you why you're so upset about all of this? I do have a pretty good idea about what happens during a break-up, but you seem to be angrier at something more. " She asked her.

Lannie bit her lip, not wanting to talk, but she felt all eyes on her, so she reluctantly began. "Honestly, it was for a stupid reason. I still don't know exactly why he broke up with me. All he said was that I needed to date more people instead of just 'settling' with him, which I wasn't." She glared over at Lorne, who was looking slightly hurt again.

"Lannie, you know exactly why I broke up with you. You had an opportunity back there with Keras, and you said yourself that if we hadn't been together something might have happened." He said, looking at her.

"I did not say that. I only said maybe. For all I know I still could have turned him down, because I don't want to be with anyone else, Evan, and you should know that. So the reason for you breaking up with me was foolish, and it was most likely because you got scared because I was making friends with another man!" Lannie lashed out at him angrily. Lorne leaned forward, getting a bit angry himself. Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard watched the exchange, saying nothing.

"I was not scared, Lannie. Don't even think that."

"Then why did you break up with me, Evan? I know there's another reason, and you're not telling me. You said that you care about me so much, but not enough to tell me the truth? I want to know!"

"Fine, you want to know why I broke up with you? Because I love you, Lannie, and knowing that I love you made me question whether you were ready to be in such a committed relationship with me, seeing as how I'm the only guy you've dated. So there's your answer. Are you happy now?" Lorne's outburst shocked everyone in the room, but none more than Lannie. Her eyes widened with a look of astonishment. Lorne shook his head.

"What?" He asked, slightly confused at her look.

"You love me?"

--------TBC-------------

Thoughts? I thought this was the perfect ending, because trust me the next chapter will be full of such fluff that it will hopefully float out of my head and onto the page easily. However, since the semester is starting up again and I have my grandmother's funeral this weekend, there might not be any writing for a week or so. We'll see what happens. Please Review!


	22. Love at Last

Disclaimer: You know the drill by now.

Author's Note: Well, this chapter is short and very, very sweet. I think. I had to end it at the point I did because now that the US can catch up with the episodes I can write along without a huge giant spoiler notice, but even still, there are slight Spoilers for Critical Mass. Anyway, I start with a previously so that everything flows well. I hope you enjoy, and please review!

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Previously:

"_Then why did you break up with me, Evan? I know there's another reason, and you're not telling me. You said that you care about me so much, but not enough to tell me the truth? I want to know!" _

"_Fine, you want to know why I broke up with you? Because I love you, Lannie, and knowing that I love you made me question whether you were ready to be in such a committed relationship with me, seeing as how I'm the only guy you've dated. So there's your answer. Are you happy now?" Lorne's outburst shocked everyone in the room, but none more than Lannie. Her eyes widened with a look of astonishment. Lorne shook his head._

"_What?" He asked, slightly confused at her look._

"_You love me?"_

Major Lorne blinked quickly, redness quickly rising in his cheeks as he thought back to what he had said. Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard exchanged a look, but still said nothing. Lannie looked intently at the Major, waiting for him to speak. Lorne cleared his throat, and then stood from the couch and pulled the other empty chair over to right in front of Lannie. Sitting down in front of her, he smiled and took her hands.

"Yes, Lannie. I love you." He said, giving a half chuckle. Not letting Lannie speak, he quickly turned to the other two people in the room.

"Um, I think we can resolve the rest of this on our own, if that's okay." He said. Dr. Weir smiled quickly and nodded.

"Yes, you can go. And Major? Why don't the two of you take the rest of the day off as well. I'm sure you have a lot to talk about." Both Lannie and Lorne couldn't help but blush at her statement. Lorne quickly stood from his seat and pulled Lannie up after him. They left Dr. Weir's office, Lorne leading them down the hall holding tightly onto Lannie's hand.

Dr. Weir looked over at Colonel Sheppard. "Well, I guess Carson and Cadman have some competition as cutest couple now. Do you think we should do something about this?" Sheppard chuckled and shook his head.

"No. I know that Lannie is special and everything, but I think in some weird way Lorne keeps her grounded. You have to admit, in the last two weeks we've had more little problems with all the equipment around here than any other time, and I can make a pretty good guess it's because they were fighting. And besides that, I don't think I can play the big brother card and lay down any rules, especially since they did date fairly successfully for two months without anyone really knowing." He replied. Weir nodded her head. "I guess we'll see what happens then."

Lannie instinctively knew where Lorne was taking her, and she couldn't help but grinning wildly. Major Evan Lorne had just professed his love for her. Of course, it came out in the middle of an argument and in front of the two leaders of Atlantis, but he had meant it. Excited thoughts swirled through Lannie's head. She was grateful that the fight was over, and now things would be right again.

Within moments, Lorne and Lannie had arrived on the balcony where it had all began. The sun was hanging lazily in the sky, as it was late afternoon. Lorne looked around quickly and shook his head, chuckling to himself. Walking them over to a shady area of the balcony, Lorne turned to Lannie and took both of her hands again. He smiled at her.

"Well, this isn't exactly the setting I wanted, and this was definitely not how I wanted it to go, but now that it's out, I have to do the best I can." He said, looking into her eyes. Lannie blushed and looked back up at his face.

"Lannie," Lorne began, "I love you. And these last two weeks of us being apart killed me more than you realize. I had to put up a front when I was around other people, because no one knew anything. I hope you realize that now. But I mean it Lannie. I have never felt this way about anyone else ever in my life. I fell in love with you your first trip to the mainland, although I didn't realize it then. I know this sounds really cheesy, but seeing you standing there at the edge of the woods looking out over the water, that was it for me. Of course, it took me a round of jealousy and a stupid fight for me to realize it. But I want to put that all behind us, and pick up where we left off. I honestly don't want to spend another moment away from you." He said.

Once again not letting Lannie talk, he pulled her closer to him and kissed her passionately. The two were lost in each other for what seemed like eternity, having missed these moments of intimacy in the last two weeks. They finally broke apart for air.

"Evan." Lannie breathed. "Can I say something now?" They both laughed at her comment, and Lorne nodded at her, beaming.

"I don't have a romantic little speech or anything like what you just told me, but I feel it appropriate to say that I love you too." She grinned brightly at him as he grabbed her for a hug, lifting her off the ground and swinging her around in a circle. Holding her tightly to him, he kissed once again, gentle and lovingly at first, then more passionate as it deepened. The two broke apart after a few minutes, both smiling broadly.

"So." Lannie broke the comfortable silence as Lorne chuckled. "What now?" She asked him.

"Well…" He said, pretending to think for a minute. "How about we go get something to eat?" Lannie laughed and nodded, and the two of them walked from the balcony hand in hand towards the Mess Hall.

News of Lannie and Major Lorne's renewed relationship spread like wildfire throughout Atlantis. By that evening, everyone knew variations of the story of how Lorne and Lannie had gotten into a fight in the Control Room that had to be resolved in front of Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard, and how Lorne had professed his undying love to Lannie. When the two of them had heard that last part from Lt. Cadman that evening, they had had a good laugh. The three were currently in Lannie's room, as Cadman had sought them out as soon as she had gotten off shift.

"So, now that I know all of these very creative and intriguing variations on how you two reconciled, I want to know what really happened." Cadman said. "After all, it is only fair since I was one of what, three people including yourselves who knew you two were together in the first place?"

Lannie giggled and nuzzled her head more into Lorne's shoulder. The two were sitting on her couch; or rather, Lorne was sitting on the couch and Lannie was sitting on his lap. Lorne smiled as well and began the quick recap.

"The basic gist of what people are saying is true. We got into a fight in the Control Room, and so Weir sat us down in her office and called the Colonel. We ended up telling them what had been going on between us, and then the two of us started talking, and I got frustrated and told Lannie that I only broke up with her because I was in love with her and wanted to make sure she felt the same way about me before we got more serious. Plus, I didn't know how to deal with the whole Keras thing, which was foolish of me." He paused, squeezing Lannie a little tighter into his muscular arms. Lannie then spoke up.

"He totally caught me off guard, as well as Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard. Although Dr. Weir was thinking that you and Carson have some competition now as cutest couple. But anyway, she dismissed us to resolve the rest ourselves, and we did, and now we're here." Lannie finished, looking up at Lorne. He kissed her quickly as Cadman began speaking.

"Well, I know that the two of you are leaving out the really good stuff, but this time I'm not gonna pry. But I'm very happy that you two are finally back together, because it was definitely not fun having to deal with the both of you." Lorne and Lannie blushed embarrassedly at the statement. "But anyway, I just wanted to stop by and get the official scoop, so that I can go and create rumors of my own. I'll let you two get back to your…reconciliation." Cadman finished.

Smirking at the both of them, she stood up from her chair and walked towards the door. Turning in the entrance, she said, "Oh, and by the way, I expect to be the maid of honor at the wedding, and if you choose not to name your firstborn after me being godmother will suffice." Cadman practically skipped out of the room, leaving Lannie and Lorne to both blush and laugh at her declaration.

"She is officially nuts." Lorne said, chuckling. One of his hands sneaked up to Lannie's braided hair, and slyly pulled the tie out, letting her hair fall in gentle waves of auburn.

"Hey!" Lannie exclaimed, surprised at Lorne's move. Her protest was quickly cut off by a kiss from the Major.

"I have seen you with your hair down once in the six months you have been here including the two months we've dated. And that was the day we broke up. So sue me if I want to see you like this now that I have you again. I need to see what you look like with your guard down."

Lannie looked up at him. "What do you mean?" She asked. Lorne played with her hair gently as he explained.

"From now on, this is it. I'm not letting you go ever. I want to learn every last thing there is to know about you, Lannie. And keeping your hair down is kind of symbolic. You never let a part of your guard down, partly because you still don't always understand behaviors and the way people act. But you don't have to do that around me, because I'm here, and I want you to know me as well. So get used to letting go of your inhibitions around me, because I'm not going to let them fly."

Lannie looked down and smiled to herself. Major Lorne might not be so eloquent around others, but he definitely had a way with words that melted Lannie's heart.

"I know." She whispered, looking back up into his intense blue eyes. He gently kissed her again, and the two relaxed more into each other and the couch they were sitting on.

----------TBC----------------

Well, this is a good place to end so that I can set everything up for upcoming parallels to the show. Hopefully all the ideas I have will turn out as well as I hope, but until then I hope you enjoy everything I have already. Please review!


	23. The Chair

Slight SPOILERS for The Tower!

A/N: Okay, so I didn't want to jump into writing about Lannie's versions of The Long Goodbye and Coup D'Etat just yet, so I decided to write this chapter. I've had this idea for a while, and I hope everyone likes it. I didn't want to get really technical about some things, but the general gist is there. I also want to thank everyone who has been reviewing, I really appreciate all of the feedback. So, I hope you enjoy, and please review!

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Two weeks had passed since Lannie and Lorne had reconciled and gotten back together, and Lannie couldn't be happier. Almost every morning she woke up wrapped in Lorne's strong arms. The two had taken to stay over in each other's room, mostly in Lannie's room, but nothing significant had happened between them. After the second day of Lorne spending the night to just sleep, Lannie gently inquired as to his intentions.

"Lannie," he had said, "I'm not pressuring you. Honestly, I don't think either of us is quite ready for that next step. I'm not like those guys in all those movies you've seen that as soon as they tell the girl they love them they get intimate like that. When you're ready and I know you're ready, then we'll see what happens. Until then, I'm happy just holding you in my arms every night."

Lannie had smiled when he had said. Since they had reconciled it was easier for them to express what they were thinking or feeling, and it made everything easier. The mood in the City had also risen, for some reason the power levels were at an all time high, and people were secretly associating it with the happy couple.

That was the reason why Lannie was walking down the hall that moment towards two large doors. Trailing behind her uncertainly were Dr. Weir, Dr. McKay, Dr. Zelenka, Colonel Sheppard, and Major Lorne. They didn't fully understand why Lannie was leading them to their destination, although she had tried to explain it to them.

Lannie reached the great doors and they gently parted, opening up to the Throne Chair Room. Lannie automatically went over to a console and started pressing a few panels as the rest of the group followed her in.

"Ok, Lannie? Do you think that you can explain what you want to do in a way that us lower beings can understand you?" Colonel Sheppard quipped as he stood by the door, his arms on his hips. Lannie finished what she was doing and turned to face everyone.

"Okay. When Major Lorne and I broke up, the power in the City decreased greatly for a moment before being restored to its usual output." Lannie began to explain.

"But not quite. The power wasn't at the level that it had been before, but it was close enough for us to not worry about it." Zelenka spoke up. Lannie nodded.

"Right. And then when we got back together," Lannie smiled over at Lorne, who smiled slightly back at her. He knew what she was planning and was concerned slightly at what she wanted to do. "The power was restored back to its full output. I was curious as to why this had happened, so after a little investigating and some meditation, I figured out exactly why the levels dropped."

Lannie scanned the faces of everyone in the room before she continued. McKay had his arms crossed, expecting this to be something of little importance and a waste of his time. Dr. Weir was listening intently, trying to understand why they were in the Chair Room. Lannie could practically see the wheels turning in Zelenka's mind as he attempted to find the connection. The two military men stood there listening to what she had to say stoically.

Lannie continued. "I hypothesized that there was a connection between me and the power. Seeing as how I'm tied into the City anyway, of course this would be another thing. And I was correct with my assumptions. Apparently all of my strongest emotions are tied into the main systems of the City, meaning that when I'm happy the power spikes, when I'm sad it drops, etcetera."

"Well, that's just wonderful. So from now on we have to keep you happy in order to keep Atlantis functioning properly?" Rodney snorted. Weir and Sheppard shot him a look as Lannie smiled bemusedly and shook her head.

"No. That is why we are here. I can use the Chair to access the part of my brain that is tied into the primary systems and redirect it so that nothing is dependent on my emotions. I would still be tied to Atlantis, but at least my emotions would not interfere with what needs to be done at any given moment." She explained. She stepped up onto the dais as the comprehension registered in the minds of everyone present.

"Don't you think that we should call Carson to be here to monitor you in case anything should happen?" Dr. Weir asked. "You don't know what could happen to you, Lannie. I don't want to take any risks."

Lannie smiled at Dr. Weir. "Dr. Beckett has been informed of what I plan to do, and he is standing by just in case anything should happen. He seemed a little hesitant to come into this room for some reason, so we decided that he would be available by radio in the unlikely event anything should happen. I do not believe he will need to be called, though."

Colonel Sheppard and Dr. McKay exchanged glances when Lannie spoke of Carson's hesitation. Being pressured to sit in the Chair a few times already did not make the normally upbeat Scott too happy. Sheppard smirked.

"Geez, apparently these Chair things can do everything. I'll be impressed if they can make food appear next or something else equally as interesting." Colonel Sheppard and his team had just come back yesterday from a planet with a buried City quite similar to Atlantis, complete with Throne Chair, drone weapons, and Jumpers.

"Yes, well unlike those people you encountered the last two days, I actually know what the Chair is capable of and can control every aspect of it. And you should be happy that you have someone here able to sit in the chair and control the drone weapons as you go flying off into more suicide missions should the Wraith ever return to attack the City."

Everyone in the room smirked at Lannie's jab at Colonel Sheppard. Dr. Weir sent him a sideways look before looking back at Lannie.

"So, you could theoretically have complete control of Atlantis through the Chair?" She asked. Lannie shook her head.

"No. When the Ancients first built it it was intended to be used in case of the Control Room being damaged or disabled. The Chair is a means of secondary power and for weaponry. For the most part everything in the City is run by the consoles in the Control Room and in a few other areas. This way there was no possible option for any uprisings with the citizens or even a Council person with illusions of grandeur. There is a, I believe the word is failsafe, implemented should something like that occur."

Lannie walked around the Chair once and then sat down. The back paneling lit up slightly, but nothing happened.

"Lannie, are you sure this is the best way to take care of this?" Lorne asked her. Lannie looked up at him and nodded. "This way I can be reassured that it worked. I could attempt to 'turn off' that part of my brain, but it would not be guaranteed to work. This way it will be. Don't worry. Who knows," she said, addressing everyone in the room, "perhaps I can uncover a secret or two for you to know about."

With that, Lannie leaned back into the Chair and placed her hands on the arms, into the gel-like substance at the ends. The lights on the Chair lit up immediately, and a soft hum came from the Chair and dais. McKay and Zelenka both went over to different consoles, making sure that there were no extreme power spikes or anything else. Colonel Sheppard, Dr. Weir, and Lorne all stood near the Chair, keeping a watchful eye on Lannie.

Lannie closed her eyes and concentrated on what she wanted to do. It was as if she could see complete images in front of her, an apparent map of her brain connected to each system in Atlantis. She was used to having so much information flooding her mind every moment of the day, but this was a different kind of experience, as if every movement she made a different piece of technology was affected. In that moment, she was completely one with Atlantis.

"Lannie? Are you alright?" Dr. Weir gently questioned. Lannie didn't dare to move, but managed to breathe out, "Yes. I am experiencing something…truly amazing." Dr. Weir nodded an okay and didn't question further. Sheppard and Lorne exchanged quick glances before looking back at Lannie. Both men were concerned, but both knew that she would do what she wanted and what she thought was necessary.

Once Lannie had gotten over the initial rush of power and information, she quickly sought out the ties from her emotion centers to the main power. With her thoughts she quickly rerouted her emotions to a secondary system that was relatively unused and would thusly be unaffected by the change. The power in the consoles flickered quickly, prompting Zelenka and McKay to turn to Lannie anxiously.

"I severed my emotions. It was recalibrating, compensating. Do not worry." Lannie spoke.

"Does that mean you're finished?" Sheppard asked her. "I am almost finished. The things I am discovering are astounding." She answered, eyes rapidly moving underneath her eyelids.

"What do you mean? I thought you knew everything already." McKay stated.

"Even though I have everything in my mind, I am many times unable to recall information at random. I access things according to technology I am working on, or incidents that appear familiar to me. However right now I can bring anything to the forefront of my mind without issue. It is truly amazing the knowledge I possess."

"That makes sense." Zelenka said. "She has so much information, the majority of it is pushed to the farthest parts of her mind, in her subconscious. Since she is in the Chair, she is able to bring everything up to a conscious level."

"Lannie?" Dr. Weir suddenly asked. Everyone looked back up at Lannie, whose eyes were still rapidly moving under her eyelids. Lannie twitched slightly.

"The City…I am communicating with it better than I have before…it wishes to give you a message." Various looks of uncertainty flew around the room, but all eyes returned to Lannie as her eyes shot open quickly. Her normally deep brown eyes were now swirling with orange and red, and the voice that came from her was deeper, older.

"Children of my children." Lannie said, her voice ringing through the room. "You seek the knowledge left here for you to find. Patience, young ones, for all will be revealed in due time. But be warned: there are dangers as well as all the wonders imaginable. Be cautious with your search, haste brings about despair and loss. Know that I will try to protect you in all my ways, but what I cannot do you must. The vessel I speak through will guide you; it is her design. Listen to her, and protect her, because she will be of value for as long as you live in my rooms and walk through my halls. This is what I have to say."

With an exhale of breath, Lannie's eyes closed and her hands fell from the arms of the Chair. In two steps Lorne was at her side, his hand on her shoulder and the other on her knee protectively. McKay's eyes widened and he made a soft grunt, as Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard once again exchanged looks of slight bewilderment as well as astonishment.

Lannie slowly opened her eyes again, and looked up into Lorne's face smiling softly. "Are you okay?" He asked her gently, and she nodded. He carefully helped her up from the seat, and put his arm around her waist as she slowly turned to look at the other senior officers.

"You look as if you've seen a ghost." Lannie quipped. Sheppard smirked quickly. "You doing okay kiddo? Do you remember what happened?" Lannie nodded.

"I was aware of everything that happened. The City just used my voice, I was in control of everything else." Lannie responded, leaning more into Lorne to reassure him that she was okay.

"Lannie, your eyes changed color. I want you to go get checked out by Beckett, just to make sure that you're 100." Dr. Weir stated. Lannie nodded, and she and Lorne left the room. The others looked around and then began filing out of the room as well.

Lorne held Lannie tightly to him as the two made their way to the Infirmary. Lannie knew that he had been concerned, so she let him fuss over her. Besides, she found it to be very cute that he was so protective of her now whenever they were in public. They kept what Lt. Cadman called 'PDA' to a minimum always, but it didn't mean they didn't hold hands or have an arm around each other as they walked the halls.

Lannie smiled to herself. It hadn't taken long at all for female scientists and even a few female military personnel to come up to her and tell her how lucky she was to have the Major. She knew that a few were a little jealous, but were happy for them. Lorne remained fairly laid back and quiet about the whole thing, but he had told Lannie that the guys on his team had attempted to tease him about it while at the same time commenting on the fact that he was lucky because apparently Lannie was very pretty.

The couple entered the Infirmary and walked over to the door to Beckett's office. Carson was sitting there working on his computer, so Lannie knocked softly on the doorframe to get his attention.

"Ah, Lannie, Major. I take it you attempted your little experiment?" He asked. Lannie nodded.

"Yes, and it was successful. Of course Dr. Weir would like for me to have a check-up just to be sure, and I know that it's best to humor her as much as possible." Carson laughed and walked out of his office and over to a bed. Lannie followed and hopped onto the bed, Major Lorne standing to the side.

"Alright, now I'm sure that Dr. Weir will want a full report, which means I'm going to have to take some blood. I'm sorry Lannie, but I can't just prick your finger this time." Carson looked apologetically at Lannie. Lannie still was petrified of needles, but when she needed check-ups Carson always just pricked her finger in order to get a blood sample. Lannie stiffened significantly, which prompted Lorne to mover closer to her and give her a hug.

"Hey, it'll be okay, Lannie. I'm right here, and it won't hurt at all. Just focus on me and it will be alright." Lorne said, trying to reassure her. He could already see the tears welling up in Lannie's eyes at the thought of the needle.

"If only you people could figure out how to obtain samples non-invasively. We have the technology here, but you still prefer to jab pieces of metal into innocent parties flesh in order to draw blood. So barbaric. Gah, I hate this." Lannie said bitterly. Lorne couldn't help but laugh at Lannie's comment. Someone had let her borrow a few episodes of one of the Star Trek series, and Lannie had thought it ironic how the medical technology, including the hyposprays, was vaguely similar to what the Ancients had used. However, no one had found the equipment yet, so they had to stick with the 'old' technology.

Reluctantly, Lannie extended her right arm towards Carson and buried her head into Lorne's chest. Lorne gently rubbed Lannie's back and spoke softly to her in order to distract her as Dr. Beckett quickly drew a sample of Lannie's blood, feeling slightly guilty the whole time.

"Alright, Lass, all done. Thank you for being agreeable with me. I'm sorry I don't have a treat or anything to give you to make you feel better." Carson said, putting a band-aid over the spot where he had taken the blood. Lannie made no move to look at Carson, but instead pulled her arm back and wrapped both arms around Lorne. The Major looked apologetically at Beckett. Beckett smiled knowingly and then left the area to go run the sample.

Lorne continued rubbing Lannie's back and ran his other hand through her hair, which she had worn half down that day. "You doing okay Hun?" He asked her gently. She nodded slowly but kept her head buried in his chest. Lorne sighed. "You know, I understand that you hate needles, but you're not acting too mature about this." Lannie's head shot up instantly and she glared at him as he started laughing. "I knew you'd fall for that." He said. Lannie punched him in the arm, but smiled slightly.

"No capitalizing on my moment of weakness, you. You know that needles are the one thing I'm afraid of, so the least you can do is let me be upset for a minute." Lorne bent his head down and kissed her quickly.

"Ah, there's my girl and her spunk. You want to stay here and wait for Beckett's okay or do you want to go get some ice cream? I'm sure that'll make you feel better."

"Ice cream." Lannie responded. "I already know that I'm fine, and the kitchen staff just brought out a new tub of Strawberry. Let's go." Lorne smiled as Lannie hopped down from the table. He took her hand, and the two walked out of the infirmary.

As soon as they reached the Mess, Lannie dropped Lorne's hand and walked briskly over to the dessert area. Lorne walked over to the drinks and got them both glasses of water, watching Lannie attack the tub of ice cream out of the corner of his eye. Lorne went and found a table in a quiet corner, and Lannie soon joined him. As she sat down, Lorne raised an eyebrow at her.

"What?" She asked.

"You put hot fudge on it?" He asked. Lannie had made a very elaborate sundae complete with hot fudge, whipped cream, sprinkles, and a few cherries. "You don't like chocolate." Lannie shrugged.

"I don't mind it that much when it's with something else. And besides, I know that you like chocolate, so most of it is for you, which is why it's more on one side than the other." She sat down and handed Lorne a spoon, digging into her side of the sundae. Lorne smiled at Lannie's gesture and helped himself to a bite of the ice cream.

"So," Lorne began carefully, "How are you feeling?" Lannie shrugged again, taking another bite of ice cream. "I'm okay, I guess. I didn't see the need to go see Carson to begin with, but if Weir insists, then I can't really say no. Besides, now I won't have to give any more blood for the next two months, which is always good. Hey, put that cherry down, its mine." She pointed her spoon towards Lorne, who was about to eat a bite of ice cream with a cherry in it.

"I thought you just wanted the big Strawberry pieces. And why two months?" He asked, holding out the spoon towards Lannie so she could have the cherry. Lannie leaned across the table towards Lorne's spoon and took the bite, smiling at him.

"I like everything I put in here. And it's a rule you have to have three cherries, one for the beginning, one for the middle, and the last with the last bit you take. You should know that, Evan. And I won't have to have blood taken for another two months because Beckett is going to freeze the sample. That and the fact that I probably won't be going off world for that long." She answered. Lorne nodded and finished his half of the ice cream. He sat back with his glass of water and watched Lannie finish what was left in the bowl. She finished a few minutes later and sat back in her chair, reaching for her water and looking at Lorne.

"What?" He asked her. Smiling as she took a sip, she responded. "Oh, nothing. It's just I like this. You know, sitting together, sharing a bowl of ice cream, just being happy with each other." She answered. Lorne smiled and reached across the table and took one of Lannie's hands.

"I know exactly what you mean." He said, rubbing his thumb along her hand. Lannie smiled as she stared into his deep blue eyes, leaning towards him for a quick kiss. After sitting back, Lannie started gathering up the bowl, glasses, and spoons.

"Do you have to go on shift soon, or do you have the rest of the day?" Lannie asked him. Lorne shrugged. "No idea. Is there something you want to do today?" He asked her, standing up from the table and following her over to the dirty dishes area. Lannie smiled at one of the kitchen staff who took her tray, and then turned back to Lorne.

"Not really. I'm actually kind of tired right now, so I think I might go take a nap. I'm sure you'll be able to find something to occupy yourself with." She teased Lorne. He chuckled and smiled back at her.

"Well, let me walk you back to your room." He said, and the two left the Mess and headed towards Lannie's quarters. They arrived a few minutes later and entered her room. Sighing, Lannie took her jacket off and tossed it over the back of her chair and sagged onto her bed. Lorne laughed and went to go sit down next to her. He pulled a fleece blanket up from the foot of her bed and covered her with it. Lannie giggled slightly and rolled onto her side to look at him.

"Will you stop by and wake me up in a few hours? I don't want to waste the whole day." Lannie asked him. Lorne ran his hand up and down Lannie's arm.

"Yea, I promise. Have a good nap sweetheart." He said, leaning down and kissing Lannie gently. Lannie smiled and closed her eyes as Lorne stood up and left the room. Instead of going back to his own room, he turned and went down the hallway, making sure other people didn't notice where he was going.

------------TBC-------------

Hmmm...what could Lorne be doing? Not telling...just yet. Next chapter will have spoilers for The Long Goodbye and Possibly even Coup D'Etat, but we'll see where my muse takes me. Until then, I hope you enjoyed, and please Review!


	24. Beyond the Goodbye

Disclaimer: Not Mine.

A/N: SPOLERS FOR THE LONG GOODBYE. Now that most people have finally seen the episode I decided it was a good time to release this next chapter of my story. It parallels the show, and all the things in Italics are from the actual episode. So, I hope you enjoy, and please review!

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It was two days later and Lannie was in her room sitting on her bed reading. Major Lorne was there as well, sitting next to her working on a report. The two sat in a comfortable silence, Lorne every now and then reaching over and absently running his hand over her arm or leg as he read over what he had written. They had been sitting together like this for an hour and Lannie had just about finished her book. Putting it down, she looked over at the Major, who was deleting a sentence and staring into space.

"Having trouble writing your report?" Lannie teased quietly. Lorne smiled, looking over at her quickly before looking at his computer again.

"Eh, I can't find the right words to use to explain this part of the mission. It's times like this that I wish there were more words in the English Language that could describe everything." He said.

"There is a word in Ancient for everything. It's definitely a challenge sometimes for me to explain something because you don't have certain words that are necessary." Lannie agreed.

"You're still thinking in Ancient?" Lorne asked her. As easy as it had been for Lannie to learn English in the first week or so that she was awakened, she still ended up doing most of her writing and thinking in Ancient, even speaking Ancient to herself at times. Lannie nodded.

"It's not something I think I will stop doing. All of the information about the City stored in my memory is in Ancient, so it's only natural that everything else in my thoughts is as well. After all, I am an Ancient, so it makes sense. You keep forgetting that you're not dating one of those pretty Earth girls you used to date." She quipped, slightly mussing his hair, which had grown out slightly, much to Lannie's enjoyment and amusement.

Lorne put his laptop on the nightstand and turned to Lannie, quickly running his fingers through his hair in an attempt to fix Lannie's musings.

"First of all, I can never forget that you're an Ancient. And Secondly, you are much prettier than any Earth girl, especially more than any of the ones I dated. So no trying to trick me with that, because I see right through it. You're the only person I want to be with and that's it." He declared, and then kissed her. The two sank back into the bed kissing each other zealously. They would have continued this way had Major Lorne's radio not clicked to life.

"Major Lorne? This is Dr. Weir, please respond." Dr. Weir's voice called over the radio. Lannie and Lorne broke apart and Lorne buried his head into the pillow groaning. Lannie giggled as he reluctantly sat back up, clicking his radio on.

"This is Lorne, what can I do for you Doctor?" He asked, pulling Lannie onto his lap and wrapping his arms around her.

"Major, Colonel Sheppard's team just returned carrying what seems to be a sort of life boat. They said there is another one out there where they found the first as well, and I would like you to take Teyla and Ronon in Jumper 6 to retrieve it." Dr. Weir explained. Lannie, being Lannie, heard the request and sighed softly. Lorne lowered his head onto the top of hers as he responded.

"No problem, ma'am. I'll meet Ronon and Teyla in the Jumper Bay in five minutes."

"Thank you Major." Came the reply as the radio clicked off. Lorne groaned again and pulled Lannie tighter to him.

"Did you have to say only five minutes?" Lannie asked. Lorne chortled slightly.

"Sorry sweetheart, but when work calls, I must respond. I'm sure I'll be back soon. Try not to miss me too much." Lannie turned and smirked at him.

"Ha ha. I'll try my hardest. Now go do your job. But be careful." She warned. Lorne moved her swiftly off his lap and stood up, grabbing his jacket off of Lannie's desk chair. Moving back over to her, he kissed her quickly.

"Aren't I always?" He asked, winking at her as he left the room. Lannie's smile contorted slightly as she sighed slightly to herself. Leaning back against her headboard, she picked up her book again and began reading.

An few minutes later she had started on another book when she sat up quickly from her reclining position. There was something going on in one of the Labs. She quickly started to get up and go see what was happening, but something in her mind stopped her. She did, however, activate her radio.

"Colonel Sheppard, this is Lannie. What's happening?" She asked him.

"Hey Lannie, uh, we really don't know, other than there was an old woman in a life pod and this white beam came out of it and hit Dr. Weir. We're in the Infirmary now waiting for her to wake up. That's all I know." He said. Lannie closed her eyes in thought.

"Well, I hope everyone is safe and will be okay. Especially you John." She said.

"Everything will be fine, Lannie, but thank you for the concern. Hey, don't worry about all of this. Give your mind a rest for a bit. I have to go." Sheppard quickly broke the comm link as Lannie sighed. It was unsettling to her that she could not foresee what was going to happen. However, she decided to take Colonel Sheppard's advice and relax, so she took another book from the shelf and grabbed her mp3 player that was quickly being filled with new songs, mostly from either Major Lorne or Lt. Cadman. As she settled back onto her bed, she decided to keep her radio by her side, just in case.

Two hours later, Lannie knew she had made the right decision keeping her radio on. The current song had just ended when she heard the click of the radio coming to life. She picked it up quickly, barely catching what Colonel Caldwell was saying. A minute later, however, she heard exactly what McKay was saying.

_"Security, this is Doctor Rodney McKay. Everything is fine, never been better. Uh, Colonel Caldwell was kidding when he said what he said…"_ he was cut off quickly and Lannie sat up straighter in her bed as Dr. Weir's voice came over the comm.

_"This is Doctor Weir. Attention all personnel. Colonel Sheppard is not – I repeat, not – who he pretends to be. If you find him, secure the area and contact me immediately. I'll deal with him myself."_ Lannie's brow furrowed as she tried to figure out what was going on. Something in her mind told her that there had been gunfire, along with a few blasts from a Wraith Stunner down in Lab Three. She also sensed that Major Lorne had landed the Jumper in the Bay and was en route towards Dr. Weir.

"Evan?" Lannie called to him over the radio.

"Can't talk right now Lan, have to go figure out what's going on." Came his reply, and he quickly turned his radio off. Lannie sighed, frustrated at the lack of information being given to her. She stood up and began pacing around her room nervously, mindlessly putting her mp3 player in her pocket. She then started fiddling with her radio, changing the frequencies. Colonel Caldwell's voice came over a secure channel.

_"This is Caldwell. Both Doctor Weir and Colonel Sheppard are under the influence of alien entities. If at all possible, subdue and contain them with non-lethal force." _

Lannie continued to pace around the room, wishing that she could help in any way. She went to her closet and pulled out her Vest, which Lorne had made sure she kept in case anything should happen. As she was pulling it on, she gasped slightly, her mind registering that Lorne had been knocked unconscious. Lannie ran to a drawer in her dresser and grabbed the small Hand Stunner that she had hidden there. Not even a minute later she was out of her door and running down the hall towards where Lorne was. The only way to get to his location was by transporter, and Lannie quickly stepped inside and pressed the map of where she wanted to go.

Seconds later the doors opened up facing down the hallway towards Lorne and his men. Lannie slowly walked down the hall with her Stunner drawn in front of her, in case there was anyone else there. She didn't sense Dr. Weir's presence, however, as she stepped into the open area where Lorne's team lay. She quickly bent down and checked for pulses in the others before getting to Lorne. His breath was a bit ragged seeing as how Dr. Weir had apparently hit him in the throat, but he was okay.

Sighing heavily, Lannie went over to the door to see if it would open. She waved her hand over the crystals, but it wouldn't work. She closed her eyes quickly, and saw in her mind that Dr. Weir had removed the crystal. Crouching down, Lannie removed a panel and began attempting to override the lockout on the door. She was working so intently that she didn't hear the men around her slowly regaining consciousness.

"Lannie? What the hell are you doing down here?" Lorne's raspy voice broke Lannie's concentration. Lannie stopped what she was doing and went over to him, helping him up onto one of the benches behind where he was lying.

"Are you okay? Dr. Weir really did a number on you. All of you, actually." Lannie said to him, looking him over intently. Lorne shook his head slightly and rubbed his throat before looking at Lannie again.

"What are you doing here? And how do you know about our, um, altercation with Dr. Weir, and do you know anything else that's going on?" He asked her. Lannie smiled slightly at him as the rest of his team started moving around.

"I tweaked my radio so I heard what Colonel Caldwell said, and then I sensed you getting knocked out so I came down here. And right now, well all non-essential personnel are restricted to quarters and Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard have been taken over by alien entities intent on killing one another. Basically. Oh, and I was trying to get the door to open but it wouldn't work. I could keep working, though." Lannie said, and moved from Lorne's side to start over to the door again, but was restrained by Lorne.

"No." He said, standing up and leading Lannie down the hallway towards the transporter. "You need to follow Caldwell's orders and go back to your room. You shouldn't have even come to find me, Lannie, this is my job, and if I get hurt, I get hurt. You know that."

"But Evan…" Lannie began to protest as they stood in front of the open transporter doors.

"No buts, Lannie. Go back to your room. I'll come by when this is all over." He gently pushed her into the transporter when suddenly all the lights went out. Lannie gasped suddenly and her knees buckled. Lorne instantly grabbed for her in the dark and pulled her towards him.

"You okay? What's going on?" He asked her, steadying her. Lannie breathed slowly, eyes closed as she figured out what was wrong.

"Sheppard…cut all power…too sudden, my mind couldn't totally deal…I will be alright. I just need a moment." She managed. Lorne pulled her tighter to him and rubbed her back.

"Okay, well I guess we're stuck here for a while. Let me just check in with Control." He said to her, and sat her down on a bench there in the hall. Keeping an arm around her, he activated his radio.

"This is Lorne, Dr. Weir managed to knock me and my team out, and we're stuck where she left us."

"Major, Colonel Sheppard managed to knock out all main power. Dr. McKay is working on it right now, but it might be a while." Came the voice of the Technician.

"Understood, we'll be here if needed. Lorne out." Lorne replied, and then looked back at Lannie.

"You feel better?" He asked her. Lannie nodded. "Go check on your teammates. I'll stay here. Now that the power's out I won't be able to get the door open. But I will be okay." Lannie responded. Lorne nodded quickly, and then stood and returned down the hall towards the rest of his team. Lannie leaned back and took a deep breath.

The lack of information in her mind was unsettling. It seemed to quiet, and she tried to draw on what was going on elsewhere in the City in order to fill the void. The radio communications were still functioning, and Lannie turned her radio on, just in case she could hear anything.

Major Lorne stood in the open corridor rubbing his eyes. His teammates had all pretty much regained consciousness, and were now sitting around on the benches recuperating. They were all okay for the most part, although Dr. Weir had taken one of their P90s and Vest. Lorne looked around at his men.

"Okay guys, for the moment we're stuck here. I'm sure Dr. McKay is working on getting power back, and then we'll go find Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard. Until then, relax. I'm going down the hall a bit, so hang tight."

"Sir?" One of his Lieutenants questioned. Lorne sighed slightly. "Um, Lannie managed to get herself stuck down here with us, and because the City lost power she feels a bit, um, out of sorts. I'm going to check on her." Lorne ignored the smirks on his men's faces, giving them a stern one back. "Hey, if it weren't for her you'd all still be knocked out. And can any of you open that door once power's restored? Didn't think so, so it's a good thing she's here. I'll be back." With that, Lorne turned and walked back down the hall towards Lannie.

Lannie sensed him walking up to her and smiled up at him weakly. He sank onto the bench next to her, sighing. "I'm never going to hear the end of this from my guys, you know that, right?" He asked her. Lannie nodded apologetically. Lorne shrugged. "Oh well. I'm actually glad you're here, actually. I don't have to worry about where you are now." He said.

Lannie smiled at him and rested her head on his shoulder. "Something told me to come down here. I can't explain it, but it wasn't just because I was worried about you. I know you can do your job and that this can happen, but there was something else too." Lorne smiled at her and put his arm around her waist. "Well at least you were smart about it. You have your Vest, and I'm not even going to ask you how you have a Stunner with you. I don't suppose you have anything else to entertain us while we wait." He said.

Lannie grinned wickedly at him, and pulled out her mp3 player, along with a deck of cards from one of her vest pockets. Lorne laughed and kissed her. "That's my girl. What games do you know? I know I taught you Blackjack and Go Fish, but do you know any others?" He asked, taking the cards and shuffling them, getting into a better position on the bench. Lannie also moved to make a wide enough playing space.

"I know those, and I also know Solitaire, a game called BS, one called Egyptian Ratscrew, and I am learning how to play Spit from Cadman. Do you know those as well?" Lannie responded. Lorne chuckled. "Oh yea, I'm very familiar with them. Becka used to make me play with her all the time when we were younger. She was a mean Spit player. But she always ended up hitting me the same time she hit the pile, oddly enough. But oh well. Let's play Blackjack." Lorne replied, and began dealing the cards. Lannie moved to look at her cards, but Lorne stopped her hand. Lannie looked up at him questioningly.

"No reading or counting cards. I don't want my girlfriend to be a cheater." He said. Lannie laughed. "I promise Evan. No cheating of any kind. Now can we play?" She asked him. He chuckled as well and let go of Lannie's hand. "Sure." He replied, and the two settled into their game. Their game was only paused momentarily by a voice coming over Lannie's radio.

"_Medical team to the south fork cargo hold. You have a man down."_ Lannie frowned and closed her eyes. Lorne looked up at her worriedly. "What's going on?" He asked. Lannie shook her head sadly.

"Dr. Weir just shot Ronon. The being inhabiting Colonel Sheppard radioed for a medical team. Nice of him, I have to say. Although Carson's going to have a lot of fun performing surgery in the dark." Lannie replied. She looked back up at Lorne's worried expression.

"Evan, do not worry. He will be fine. Dr. McKay is currently also working on getting the power back up, so we will be out of here very soon. As soon as the power comes back up I'll get the door open for you because the Transporter won't get you where you need to be. Now, if I am correct you were about to lose another hand to me. Either you're letting me win or I'm just better at Blackjack than you." Lannie teased him.

Lorne's face relaxed as he pretended to be upset at Lannie while clearing the cards. "You know, Poker is more my game. But we don't have chips or anything, so I can't teach you. Which is probably a good thing, because I don't need you beating Cadman and the other girls when they play."

He paused. "Actually, now that I think about it, it might be a good thing for me to teach you poker, because rumor has it that the stuff you can win can be pretty, well, interesting. So maybe we'll see what happens. But obviously it'll have to wait until this situation blows over." He finished.

Lannie smiled to herself. She had only gone to a few Girls' Poker Nights, and it was true that the payout was varied and often quite interesting, ranging from candy to magazines to, well, other things. Lannie had always hung back and watched or talked with the other women while they played.

Lorne and Lannie continued playing cards for a while until suddenly the lights in the hallway lit as the power came back on.

"Finally." Lorne said. "You think you can get that door open now?" He asked Lannie, who was putting all the cards back in the box. Lannie nodded and stood up. "I had almost finished before you woke up, so it shouldn't be that hard to do." Lorne nodded and the two quickly went back down the hall towards the door and the rest of Lorne's team. Lannie quickly went over to the door and sat on the floor in front of the open console while Lorne spoke with his team.

"Lannie's going to get the door open and then I'm going to check with Colonel Caldwell to see where Sheppard and Dr. Weir are. Once we get to one of them we hold them in custody. Use non lethal force unless absolutely necessary. We know that Dr. Weir has one of our P90s, so let's hope that three against one will force her to give it up."

Lannie worked quickly to rewire the door to open. The door slowly opened partially, then with one more crossed wire it opened completely. Lannie sighed with relief and stood up to face Major Lorne and his team. "All done." She said happily.

Lorne smiled at her, the looked at her seriously. "We're a gun short, so I'm going to need your Stunner Lannie. And you should go immediately back to your room and wait there." He said to her. Lannie's face fell slightly.

"Will I get my Stunner back?" She asked him. Lorne gave her a look and stepped forward and held out his hand. Lannie smiled bitterly. "This seems familiar. At least I won't knock you all out once I hand my gun over." Lannie snarked. She reluctantly handed the Stunner to Lorne who smiled slightly at her.

"Thank you Lannie. Now go back to your room." Lorne turned to his teammates and handed over the Stunner. Lannie sighed slightly and slowly turned towards the hallway back to the Transporter. She was just about to walk down the hall when suddenly the door she had just opened closed quickly. Down the hall, she could hear the Transporter closing as well. Lorne and his teammates tried to keep the door open, but it closed swiftly.

Lorne looked over to Lannie, who had just grabbed at her head in pain. He swiftly moved towards her and guided her to the nearest bench. "Hey, you okay? What's going on now?" He asked her.

"OW. Dr. Weir put the City into Lockdown. I can't even do anything. I don't think I can get the door open again. McKay is working on the override. I'm sorry Major." She said, looking at him. He smiled comfortingly at her and put his hand on her arm.

"Hey, don't worry about it Hun. At least you got the door open for those few moments. I guess we'll have to stay put and wait for McKay to fix everything. Okay guys, I guess we're waiting again." He said, looking over at his team. Lannie moved backwards onto the bench and sat cross-legged, closing her eyes. She could hear the chatter on the radio between Colonel Caldwell and Dr. Weir, along with the others as well.

Lorne watched as his men wandered away and turned back to Lannie. He moved closer towards her. "Are you sure you're okay?" He asked her quietly, taking one of Lannie's hands. Keeping her eyes closed, she smiled and squeezed his hand reassuringly. "I'm alright Evan. I was just caught off guard again. At least now I can still know what's going on in the City, I just don't have control of things. Right now however I'm listening in on everything that's going on over the radios. Pretty interesting conversations, I must say." Lorne smiled at her and relaxed next to her.

"I'm sure you'll tell me what's up, let me know all the gossip too?" He joked. Lannie smiled again. "Of course. Right now Weir is demanding to have Sheppard in her custody. However, Teyla is about to apprehend him. Oh, and Ronon made it out of surgery just fine. He'll be off his feet for a few days, though, and he won't be thrilled about it."  
"I can understand that." Lorne replied. "I guess Ronon is even more in Beckett's debt, what's that, two times Carson has saved him?" Lorne began playing with Lannie's hand, which he still had in his grasp.

"You know," he began quietly, as not to be overheard by the rest of his team. "Once this is all over, you and I need to have a special night, just for the two of us. What do you think?" Lannie slowly opened her eyes and looked at Lorne happily.

"I think that's a wonderful idea." She replied. He grinned back at her and kissed her quickly. Lannie smiled back at him, then settled into his shoulder as Lorne put his arm around her, giving a quick death glare at the rest of his team, whose smirks were beginning to return to their faces. Lannie closed her eyes again and listened to what was happening in the City. A few moments later she stiffened and opened her eyes, looking at Lorne.

"It's a good thing that I am here with you. Phebus, um, Dr. Weir, has managed to rig the life support to release the halon fire suppressant into living quarters. If she's allowed to do this…" Lannie shook her head. Lorne sucked in a quick breath but rubbed Lannie's arm reassuringly. "Well then, I guess it's a good thing that you decided to do whatever you wanted, huh?" Lannie gave him a half smile and then went back to listening to the radio conversation.

Lorne watched her listen to the City affectionately. Even though he had been in full Military mode when Lannie had shown up, his protective side had kicked in now, and he was grateful that she was there with him rather than being alone in her quarters with the threat of Halon fire suppressant being released. It was also easier for him to show Lannie little signs of affection in front of the guys that he worked with. Evan had always been very quiet about relationships, and many times people were very surprised to learn he had even been in any at all. However, this was Atlantis, and everyone knew everyone else's business, so he had to let go of a little of his 'private life kept private' ways.

The small group sat around the hallway for what seemed like another eternity. Lannie was listening in to what was going on, and every now and then would tell Lorne what was happening. Finally, she opened her eyes and looked at Lorne.

"Phebus wants Teyla to kill Sheppard." She told him. Lorne's eyes widened, but he didn't say anything. Lannie gazed off into the distance slightly in order to see everything else going on.

"Dr. McKay almost has the override. Everyone is very tense." After another moment of silence, she said, "He has the override. The lockdown is over, get ready to move out, they're down the hall and up a level. Weir is getting there now, so be on guard." She looked at Lorne. He stood up and motioned for his team.

"_All security teams – this is Caldwell. Resume your search for Doctor Weir." _Caldwell's voice sounded over all the radios. Lannie quickly moved to the door and with one touch to the wires it flew open. Lorne nodded quickly at Lannie and then he and his team took off down the hallway. Lannie sat back against the wall and sighed. It had certainly been an eventful day.

----------TBC----------------

So, What do you think? I'll probably have a filler chapter in here before I write my chapter about Coup D'Etat, so stay tuned!


	25. Surprise

Disclaimer: As every single other one of these has stated, none of the characters I play with are mine except for Lannie.

A/N: So, this is the longest chapter I have written so far, and I have to say it's one of my favorites. It took me a while to get it out the way I wanted, and I'm very happy with the result. I'll have another note down at the bottom so I don't give anything away here. All I can say up here is that there is plenty of Lannie/Lorne fluff. So, enjoy, and please review!

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Two days later Lannie was sitting in the Control Room helping her Canadian Technician friend run a Gate diagnostic. Colonel Caldwell was currently sitting in Dr. Weir's office, as neither she nor Colonel Sheppard had yet been released from the Infirmary. Things were slowly going back to normal after what Sheppard referred to as the 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' incident. Lannie had gone to visit both he and Dr. Weir in the Infirmary the day before to see how they were doing, as well as visited Ronon, who was slowly becoming Dr. Beckett's most disagreeable patient. However, Teyla had somehow managed to convince him that it would not be a sign of weakness to stay in the Infirmary to get better, so he was currently still there for the rest of the week.

Lannie felt hands on her shoulders and smiled. She turned her head and was greeted by Major Lorne's equally as happy face.

"What are you up to?" He leaned over her head to look at what she was doing while giving her a gentle shoulder massage. Lannie sighed happily at the massage.

"Doing a Gate Diagnostic. Interesting, but also incredibly boring. I wish I had my music with me, that would have kept me entertained."

"Hey now. I guess talking with me isn't good enough." The Tech said jokingly. Lannie laughed and looked over at him.

"Talking to you is always entertaining, however having music would have made time go by even faster. That's all I was trying to say." She told him. He nodded.

"I know. I have to go bring this in to Caldwell, I'll be right back." He told her, motioning to a report he was holding. Lannie nodded and then looked up at Lorne.

"So, what are you doing here? Not that I don't really appreciate you stopping by to give me a very wonderful shoulder massage, but aren't you supposed to be working?" She asked him. He chuckled slightly.

"It just so happens that it's lunchtime, and so I decided to drag you away from your 'work' to accompany me. If that's okay with you, of course." He said.

Lannie looked down at the computer to see the time. She disliked wearing jewelry, although Cadman had convinced her to pierce her ears a few weeks ago and so she now wore a simple pair of gold studs in her ears. Major Lorne had been very surprised to discover the piercing, but Lannie had assured him that she hadn't seen anything plus the fact that it was only skin and a little cartilage, not a vein.

"Besides," she had said, "I wanted to do something different, and for me this is different. And it's not like you don't like it."

"You know, lunch sounds really good right about now. Besides, I don't have to sit here watching the computer run the diagnostic, it can run itself. Let's go." Lannie stood up and followed Lorne out of the Control Room. As soon as they turned the first corner they nearly collided with two people.

"Whoops, I'm sorry." Lannie said, looking up at who they had run into. Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard's faces greeted her, and Lannie's own face lit up.

"Dr. Weir, Colonel Sheppard! Carson released you! I am so glad." She exclaimed. Sheppard chuckled slightly.

"Apparently you missed us. What, had enough of McKay and Caldwell running the show?" He joked. Lorne snickered slightly as Lannie nodded.

"McKay I can handle, but Caldwell….well let's just say that I am so glad to have you back Dr. Weir, and that he will be leaving in a few days. But I'll let you go take your office back, the Major and I were just headed for lunch." Lannie looked quickly at Lorne, who smiled at her.

"Actually, Lannie, why don't you go ahead, I have to speak with the Colonel and Dr. Weir for a moment. I'll be right there." Lorne said to her. Lannie raised her eyebrows at him, but then nodded and waved to Sheppard and Weir as she took off down the hall. Lorne smiled after her, then turned to face his superiors.

"I was wondering if I could speak to you both about something. Is it okay if I stop by your office after I finish lunch with Lannie, Dr. Weir?" He asked the two. Elizabeth nodded. "Of course Major."

"Is there a reason why you couldn't ask us in front of Lannie?" Sheppard inquired. Lorne shifted slightly. "Um, it kind of has to do a little with her. I'll explain more to you later, Sir. I should go now, I'm sure Lannie is wondering what I'm doing." With a slight nod, Lorne took off down the hallway towards the Mess. Elizabeth and John exchanged a look.

"I wonder what's going on?" John wondered. "Whatever it is, I'm sure we'll find out when the Major comes to speak with us. Until then, I think I have a job to take back." John grinned as the two continued their way towards the Control Room.

Lorne entered the Mess Hall to see Lannie standing in front of the sign listing the day's menu, frowning slightly. "Something the matter?" He asked her, standing behind her slightly. Lannie turned her head to look at him quickly, then looked back at the menu.

"There's nothing that I like. Now I don't know what to get." She answered. Lorne looked over the menu. There were a few items to choose from, two in particular that he knew he would enjoy. Lannie, however, was definitely a very picky eater, so he wasn't surprised that she didn't want what was on the menu.

"You could always make a sandwich." He suggested. Lannie shrugged. "I suppose." She answered, slowly walking towards the food area. Lorne followed her and grabbed himself a tray. He went over to the food line and quickly got what he wanted, then turned to find where Lannie had gone. He found her standing over by the sandwich area.

"You going to make yourself a sandwich?" He asked her as he walked towards her. She looked blankly down at the food in front of her. "I don't know." She said. Lorne sighed. "Lannie, you have to eat something. Make a sandwich, or have cereal, or find something you know you'll eat. I know you skipped breakfast today, so you have to eat something now." He said sternly. Lannie often got so engrossed in what she was doing that she skipped meals. Lannie frowned, but grabbed two pieces of bread and started making herself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Lorne smiled and dropped a kiss on the top of her head. "Good girl." He teased slightly. Lannie turned and made a slight face back at him. She finished making her sandwich quickly, then grabbed a scoopful of potato chips and followed Lorne to the beverages. Once they had gotten their drinks, they found a table in a quiet corner.

"So," Lorne began speaking after eating a few bites of his food, "I have an idea. You know how I promised you the other day that we would have a date night?" Lannie nodded, slowly eating her sandwich. "Well, I was thinking that we have it tomorrow night. Does that sound good to you?" He asked her.

"Yes, that sounds fine. What do you have planned?" She asked him. Lorne smiled and shook his head. "That part is a surprise. And I'm trusting you to not read my mind and ruin it for you. Promise you won't?"

"I don't read your mind Evan. I never have and I never will. I trust you enough to not have to. So I promise." Lannie answered.

"Okay good. Oh, and you're probably going to have to raid Cadman's closet for something nice to wear. Or ask for her advice with clothes that you have. But that's all I'm telling you about tomorrow, you have to wear something nice." He told her. Lannie frowned slightly. "Okay, I'll ask her to help me later. But that's all you're telling me about tomorrow? I don't think that's fair." Lorne grinned and leaned in for a quick kiss.

"Too bad." He replied huskily. Lannie feigned anger and tossed a potato chip at his head, which he caught easily in his mouth. The two started laughing and finished their meal. After they had finished, the two walked hand in hand down the hall back towards the Control Room.

Lannie sank back into her chair in front of the computer, which was still running the Diagnostic. The Canadian Tech looked up from his own console and smiled at her.

"Hey, do you mind finishing this up for me while I go grab something to eat?" He asked. "Of course. Go for it, I have everything under control. Enjoy your meal." Lannie responded. The Tech smiled gratefully and took off. Lorne bent down towards Lannie slightly.

"Hey, I have to go talk to Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard for a few minutes, then I have some work I need to finish. I'll see you later?" Lannie looked quickly into Dr. Weir's office to see her and Sheppard discussing something. Lannie looked back up at Lorne.

"Okay, I'm probably going to finish up the Diagnostic here and then go find Cadman. I'll probably have to drag her away from Carson, but you know, you gave me a mission, and I have to oblige." She joked. Lorne chuckled and gave her a quick kiss. "I'll see you later. And no listening in or reading minds, got it?" Lannie gave an exasperated sigh and smiled back at him. Lorne smiled and winked at her, then started for Dr. Weir's office. Lannie sighed happily and then turned back to her work.

"What about this shirt and these pants?" Lt. Cadman asked Lannie three hours later. Lannie's bed was a sea of clothing, her entire closet been pulled out and scrutinized. Lannie sighed tiredly. She and Laura had been debating outfits for Lannie to wear the next night for the last hour, and she couldn't find a single thing to wear. It didn't help that Lorne had only told her to look nice, and not told her what category of nice. Lannie stood in front of her almost bare closet, while Cadman was by the bed arranging different outfits for possible options.

"Laura, we need to take a step back. Ok, Evan said to look nice. So I'm assuming that doesn't mean jeans or casual shirts, so that eliminates the pile by my pillows." Lannie said. Laura nodded in agreement and pulled the pile off and dumped it onto the couch.

"Okay, I think also he didn't mean too formal, which is good because you don't have any formal gowns or anything like that. However, it could mean semi-formal, which is basically little black dress. That could work for anything, plus the fact that he's never seen you in a dress, and if Katie is giving you a haircut tomorrow as well then he'll definitely get a surprise." Cadman stated.

Lannie smiled and nodded. She had decided that her hair was a little too long, and so Dr. Katie Brown had offered to cut it for her. Lannie walked back over to the bed, where a selection of outfits was laid out in front of her. Laura had brought over a few choices, and Katie had offered some as well.

"Okay", Lannie said, "I don't think I want to wear the dress pants, as nice as they are. I definitely think I should wear a dress, but I don't know if I should wear a black dress or a different color."

"Okay well let's see. You have three black dresses to choose from, all about the same length but different cuts. Then there's a maroon one, a navy blue that might look really good with your hair color, another red one, a dark green that might work too, and a beige dress. I don't think the beige dress will look good, so let's nix it." Cadman stated, moving the clothes around.

"I think the red one might be too red. As much as I like the color, I want to wear something different, something that he's never really seen me in." Lannie said. Laura nodded in agreement.

"Yea, so that means the green, blue, and any of the black dresses. Well, there's only one thing to do." She pulled one of the dresses off of the bed and handed it to Lannie. "Start modeling." Lannie looked at her slightly puzzled. "Go try each one on and see how it looks. Go. I'll give an opinion when you come out." Laura explained. Lannie nodded and headed into her bathroom. Laura walked over to the couch and pulled a shoe box out from under the clothes lying there.

"Here, put the shoes on too. We need to see the whole picture." Lannie's hand reached out to take the box from Cadman. In the bathroom Lannie quickly changed into the dress Laura had handed her, which turned out to be one of the black dresses. It was spaghetti strapped and a straight cut across her chest, with an angled cut at the bottom. Lannie slipped the shoes on, which turned out to be three inch heels, and the stepped out of the bathroom.

"What do you think?" She asked Cadman. Laura studied her for a moment, then shook her head.

"I like the bottom of the dress, but the top is too straight. We need you in something showier. You have a great body, and Lorne needs to see that!" Laura joked. Lannie laughed and nodded her head. "Okay. Next dress?"

Laura handed her one of the other black dresses and Lannie went back into the bathroom. The new dress was a low V-neck with a slight wave along the bottom hem. It also had a sheer black overlay that came down a little further than the under layer. Lannie stepped out of the bathroom to Laura's nod of approval.

"I like this one, it's a definite possibility. I don't know how I feel about the third black dress, because it's a little too short for this type of date, so don't bother trying it on. Here, try the green one." She handed Lannie the dress. It was spaghetti strapped and V-necked, with a lighter green pattern running throughout. It also had an asymmetrical bottom. Lannie quickly changed and brought the two black dresses out with her to put back on the pile. Laura shrugged.

"It's nice, but I don't know if it's the one. Ok, last one, try the Navy." Laura handed Lannie the last dress and Lannie once again disappeared into the bathroom. She quickly changed into the blue dress, which was a very low cut halter dress with a large darker blue stripe going across the middle on an angle, ending in the point of the asymmetrical bottom. Lannie tied the strings to the halter around her neck the best she could and the stepped out into her room.

"Wow. That's it." Laura said excitedly. She moved behind Lannie and fixed the halter quickly for her, and then walked all around her nodding. "Yup, absolutely perfect. You look amazing in it, go see for yourself in the mirror." Lannie carefully walked over to the mirror, because she wasn't quite comfortable in heels yet, and looked at herself. The dress complimented her hair and skin tone perfectly. She smiled excitedly and turned back to Cadman.

"I agree. This dress is perfect. I can't wait to see the look on Evan's face." Cadman laughed. "Oh yea, his eyes are gonna pop out of his head. Okay, well go change out of the dress and give it to me, I'll put it on a hanger and everything for you. Then I'll help you clean up this clothes bomb that exploded in here." Lannie laughed and went back into the bathroom to change. She came out dressed once again in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and handed the dress to Cadman. The two then quickly went to work on cleaning the mess they had created.

A half an hour later the two girls were sitting on Lannie's bed looking at the next part of the preparation; makeup. Lannie had never worn makeup before, and so Cadman was giving her a crash course in the basics.

"Okay, now since the Ancient's decided to give you incredible skin, you don't need to wear concealer or foundation. However, I suggest you use this bronzing powder, eyeliner, eye shadow, and lip gloss." Laura began. "Now, I have a few colors to choose from for the eye shadow, however you are wearing a blue dress so I would suggest the blue eyeliner, which will definitely make your eyes seem browner, and also a silver shadow. For the lips, you don't need much color, however I have this gloss that will look fantastic. I like gloss better than regular lipstick, it feels nicer, and since you're used to using Chapstick it will be easier." She explained.

Lannie nodded and looked at the selection in front of her. She had seen Laura get ready for dates with Carson by putting some makeup on, but she had never attempted wearing anything other than chapstick. This would definitely be a date to remember.

"Well, what do you think?" Dr. Katie Brown took a step back as she handed Lannie a mirror. Lannie stared into it seriously, studying the image in front of her. Suddenly her mouth broke out into a wide smile.

"It's perfect, Katie, thank you so much!" She exclaimed. Lannie's auburn hair was now resting at her shoulders and angled slightly around her face. Katie had also curled the ends slightly, and it was parted neatly in the middle. Lannie couldn't be happier with how it looked. She stood up and gave Katie a quick hug.

"Thank you so much. I have to go finish getting ready now, but thank you so much for this." Lannie said. Katie smiled warmly. "Of course Lannie. Have an amazing evening." Katie watched as Lannie left the room quickly. Luckily Katie's room was right down the hall from Lannie's, so she made it back without anyone seeing her. Cadman was sitting at Lannie's desk looking at something on her computer.

"Wow, Katie did an amazing job! You look great, Lannie. Now we have to get some makeup on you and get you into your dress, because your Major will be here in less than an hour." Cadman said, standing up and leading Lannie over to the bathroom. Lannie looked at Cadman slightly puzzled.

"I though you were busy today and weren't going to be able to help me." She said. Laura smiled and winked at Lannie.

"Now why would I miss this? Actually, all it took was going up to McKay and asking him a question. He got all flustered and told me to take the rest of the day off. So here I am! Now, sit down here and let me work my magic." Cadman responded as she began applying makeup to Lannie's face.

Fifteen minutes later Cadman had finished. Lannie only had a few seconds to stare in wonder at the job Laura had done before having the dress and shoes thrust at her.

"Here, finish changing and then you can stare at yourself a little more. And hurry up, knowing Lorne he'll be right on time, and I don't think I can keep him waiting a few minutes." Cadman said to her, stepping out into Lannie's main room. Lannie quickly but carefully changed out of her normal clothes and slipped into the dress. She then carefully put her heels on and then stood and smoothed everything out. Taking a deep breath, she left the bathroom.

"Oh my goodness. Lannie, you look like a totally different person. You look absolutely gorgeous, Lorne is going to totally flip out when he sees you. Here, look at yourself, what do you think?" Laura pushed Lannie over to her large mirror. Lannie was stunned at the woman in front of her. She smiled broadly and looked at Cadman.

"I have to admit, Laura, I've never felt so much like a girl before. But I totally agree that Evan is definitely going to freak out." She said, and the two began laughing. A few minutes later Lannie was still standing in front of the mirror fixing her hair slightly when her doorbell rang. Laura quickly pushed Lannie into the bathroom and went to let Major Lorne in.

"Hello, sir." She greeted him. Lorne smiled quickly at her and entered Lannie's quarters. He was visibly nervous, with a small handful of flowers in his hands. He was wearing dark navy slacks, black dress shoes, and a white shirt with thin blue pinstripes. Laura couldn't help but laugh to herself. Lorne and Lannie had dated for almost five months now including the two week break-up, and it was as if they were going on their very first date tonight. But then again, this was no regular date, Laura reminded herself.

Lorne looked over at Cadman carefully. In a low voice, he said, "You'll take care of everything once we leave, right?" Cadman nodded, then raised her voice.

"Lannie's just in the bathroom, so she'll be out in a minute. Let me go hurry her along for you, Sir." Cadman walked into the bathroom where a very nervous Lannie was pacing around.

"Hey, calm down, he's just as nervous as you are. The two of you are so funny, you're acting like this is your first date or something. Relax! You've done this before." Lannie raised her eyebrows at Cadman. "Okay, you've never done something this formal before, but it'll be fine, it's just like a regular date. Now go out there." Lannie took a deep breath and stepped out into her room.

Major Lorne's breath caught as he saw Lannie enter the room. She was absolutely stunning, and he couldn't believe how lucky he was that he was in love with such an amazing person. Lannie was also very impressed with Lorne. He definitely cleaned up nicely, and the shirt he was wearing made his eyes even bluer than normal. Lannie walked over and stood in front of the stunned Major.

"Wow, Lannie, you look…" Lorne couldn't even finish the sentence, so he gently leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss. Remembering the flowers in his hands, he handed them to her.

"These are for you, I thought you'd like them." Lannie smiled warmly. "Thank you, Evan, they're beautiful. You did make sure that Katie knew you were taking them, right?" She joked. He chuckled.

"Actually, I asked Parrish for them, and since he owed me one he was more than happy to give them to me. So, are you ready to go?" He asked her. Lannie nodded, and then turned to Cadman, who was standing in the doorway to the bathroom.

"Um, Laura, do you think you can put these in water for me?" She asked. Cadman quickly walked over and took the bouquet from Lannie.

"Not a problem. You two kids have fun, and be home at a decent hour, you hear?" She joked. Lannie smiled and started for the door. Lorne shot Cadman a quick look, which was met by a slight nod, and then Lorne followed Lannie out the door.

"Okay." Cadman said, looking around the room. "Let's get started."

"So." Lannie said as they walked down the hallway. "Where are you taking me?" Lorne smiled. "Where do you think?" He responded. Lannie grinned. "Ah, the balcony. How predictable." She quipped. Lorne smirked. "Where else? But don't worry, I have a surprise for later also." He said as the two entered the transporter. "I see." Lannie answered as the doors opened to the hallway leading to the balcony. Lorne held Lannie's hand as the two walked down the deserted hallway. Because of the 28 hour days on Atlantis, the sun was just setting as the two stepped onto the balcony. Lannie gasped in amazement.

The entire balcony was sprinkled with flower petals. At table had been set up with Athosian candles and dinnerware. There were also small tea-lights lining the balcony railing. Lannie turned to Lorne in amazement.

"I told you Parrish owed me one." He said, shrugging his shoulders. Lannie shook her head in disbelief as Lorne led her over to the table. Ever the gentleman, he pulled out her chair for her and with a quick kiss on the cheek went over to a small cooler next to the table and pulled out a small bottle of champagne. Lannie looked at it inquisitively.

"It's champagne. Kind of like wine, but with carbonation. I figured it was appropriate for this evening." He explained, as he popped the cork and quickly filled two champagne flutes that were on the table. Lannie took the glass from Lorne as he sat down and raised the other one in the air. Lannie raised hers as well and met Lorne's gaze.

"To us," he began, "and to whatever the future holds, good or bad, and that as long as we know that we love each other nothing can ever break us apart. Again." He toasted. Lannie smiled and took a small sip of her champagne. It was a different taste, but she enjoyed it. She put her glass down and leaned forward towards Lorne.

"So, what exactly are we celebrating tonight?" She asked him. Lorne smiled and shook his head. "Nice try, Lannie. You'll get the surprise later. For now, let's just enjoy our dinner. Which, I know that you will eat, because not only is it what I know you do eat, I made it myself, so you automatically have to eat it." He said, standing and going over to a tray resting on another small table. He removed two plates and carried them back, placing one in front of Lannie. Lannie looked down to see Chicken Parmesan with linguine. She looked up at Lorne shocked.

"You took over the kitchen again?" Lorne laughed.

"I didn't completely take it over. You know how my mom made sure of it so that when I went to college I wouldn't starve, because believe it or not I used to be a picky eater like you are. Thankfully I grew out of that really quickly, but it's always a good skill to have. Plus, being nice to the kitchen staff as well helps, which is how I was able to get the supplies and make everything. They were kind enough to keep it all warm and bring it out here before we got here. I hope you like it." He explained to her. Lannie looked at Lorne in amazement and then began cutting into her food. She tentatively took a first bite.

"Evan. This is really good." She managed as soon as she had swallowed. Lorne chuckled and the two continued to eat their meal.

"So, who cut and did your hair for you? I know that Cadman managed to get some makeup on you, and it looks really nice." Lorne asked her. Lannie smiled. "Katie Brown. She's actually very good at it, she said she used to cut all her friends' hair in College. I think she's so good because she has to prune flowers and plants as her job, but that's my theory." Lannie said. "Well she did an amazing job. I know you wanted to cut your hair for a little while now." Lorne responded. Lannie nodded and took another sip of her champagne.

After a while they had both finished their dinner. Lorne stood quickly and cleared both plates from the table. He then quickly took something from the cooler and began arranging two smaller plates. He brought them over to the table.

"Is this cheesecake?" Lannie asked. Lorne nodded as he sat down. "Yes, it is, and no, I didn't make it. The kitchen ordered some for some reason and I managed to snag two pieces for tonight. I hope you like it." Lannie nodded enthusiastically as she took her first bite. The two quickly finished their desserts and sat back with their champagne.

Lannie looked out over the water. The sun had just set and the sky was a violet color. She could hear the water below lapping up against the lower levels of the City. She was so engrossed in the scenery that she didn't notice Lorne stand up and walk over to a small device. Quiet music started up, and Lannie looked up to see Lorne's hand extended to her and a smile in his eyes.

"Care to dance?" He asked her. Lannie took his hand and stood up. "I don't really know how." She responded. The two walked over to a clear area and Lorne put his free hand around Lannie's waist, motioning her to put her own hand on his shoulder.

"Just let me guide you." He said softly, squeezing Lannie's other hand gently and pulling it, and her, closer to him. The two gently swayed to the music, lost in each other's eyes. Once Lorne knew that Lannie was comfortable, he started gently moving her around their pseudo-dance floor.

"This is just a simple waltz." He said to her. Lannie looked at him with a smirk.

"Your mom?" She asked. He smiled and nodded. "My brother, sister, and I are probably the most well rounded people you will ever meet. Mom made sure that we were very cultured, as she called it." He said, gently pushing her away from him and giving her a spin. Lannie giggled as he did this. The two gently twirled around the balcony for a few more songs, then another very slow song came on. Lorne pulled Lannie close to him with both arms around her waist, and she draped her arms around his neck, nuzzling her head into his shoulder, silently grateful for the height her heels gave her. The two held each other close, barely swaying to the music. Lorne gently lifted Lannie's head to meet his as he kissed her gently. They continued kissing until the song ended and they slowly broke apart. Lorne pulled Lannie closer to him again in a hug, Lannie sighing contently.

Lorne gently pulled away from Lannie after a moment and looked into her eyes.

"So, are you ready for the surprise yet?" He asked her. Lannie's eyes lit up and she nodded enthusiastically. He chuckled and threaded her arm through his, and the two left the darkening balcony. "One of the kitchen staff is coming up here to clean the dishes off for us in a little while, and I'll come back here tomorrow to clean everything else." He reassured her as they walked down the hall. They stopped in front of the transporter, as Lorne stood in front of Lannie, taking both of her hands in his.

"Okay. This is a pretty major thing I have planned now, so I'm going to need to blindfold you. Is that all right?" Lannie nodded. "I trust you Evan." She replied. Lorne kissed her quickly and then pulled a piece of cloth from his pocket. He gently tied the blindfold tightly over Lannie's eyes, then took her hand.

"Okay, let's get going." He said, and led her into the transporter. He quickly pressed the area of their destination and in an instant they were standing in a quiet hallway. Lorne led Lannie down a short way to just in front of a door. He took a deep breath. "You ready?" He asked her. Lannie nodded and giggled uncomfortably. Lorne waved his free hand over the crystals and the door opened. He led Lannie into the room and the doors swished closed behind them.

"Okay," Lorne said, moving behind Lannie. "You ready?" "Yes, Evan, I'm ready." Lannie responded, growing more nervous now that they were wherever the surprise was. Lorne began untying the knot holding the blindfold. "Now," he began, "You have to keep your eyes closed until I say so. Promise?" Lannie shifted on her feet in anticipation.

"I promise. Come on Evan, show me!" She said. Lorne chuckled and took the blindfold off, checking to make sure that Lannie's eyes were tightly closed. Lorne took a quick look around where they were standing, and nodded in approval. "Okay, Lannie, open your eyes." He said, taking a step back from her.

Lannie slowly opened her eyes and blinked a few times to focus. She was standing in what was apparently a living room. There were a few couches around a center coffee table, with a small rug underneath. Closer to the door was a desk set up with what appeared to be Lannie's laptop and some framed pictures that Lannie recognized as Lorne's. To the left of the door was a small kitchen area with a table for two. Off to one side was another doorway which Lannie guessed led to a bedroom, and another to the bathroom. Lannie took a few steps forward as she looked around the room with wide eyes. Across from Lannie were large windows that opened to a small balcony facing the West, and the wall to her right had the tapestry from Lannie's room hanging on it. The other wall had some of the posters that Lorne had had in his room. Lannie turned slowly to face Lorne.

"Evan, where are we, and why are our things in here?" She asked him, slightly bewildered. Lorne smiled and stepped forward and took Lannie's hands.

"Well, if you want it, this can be our place. I found these quarters a few weeks ago and well, I couldn't pass this opportunity up. So I've been fixing up the place for the last few weeks, and a few days ago I started moving some of my things in here, which is why I've been staying with you lately. I asked Dr. Weir's and Colonel Sheppard's permission yesterday to move in together, and I had Cadman move a few of your things down here while we were having dinner. Lannie." He paused slightly, looking into her eyes. "Lannie, you know how much I love you. And you know how we always end up staying over each other's rooms. This would be a much better situation for us, and I really want this. So, Atlanteá, Lannie, do you want to move in together?"

Lannie looked once more around the living area. Smirking, she looked back at Lorne. "Well, my things being here is a little presumptuous of you, Evan." She said. He grinned sheepishly and shrugged his shoulders. Lannie looked up at the ceiling in mock thought, then looked back into Lorne's eyes beaming.

"I would absolutely love to move in with you Evan Lorne." She answered him, giggling as he let out a whoop of joy and grabbed her into a bear hug and swung her around. He set her down and planted an intense kiss on her. The kiss ended a few minutes later as they both broke apart gasping for air. They had moved over to the couch area, and so Lannie dropped onto one of them and looked around in wonder.

"So you've really been working on this for a while, huh?" Lannie asked him. Lorne sat down next to her and nodded. "Yea, whenever I had a chance. There was some water damage, and I thought it needed a paint job, so I've been fixing it up. I started moving my things in here a few days ago. I told Cadman about the idea when I asked her to help move some of your things in here, which is why she was there tonight to help you finish getting ready. I hope you don't mind."

Lannie smiled and shook her head. "And the reason why you had to talk to Dr. Weir and John yesterday was to ask permission to do all of this?" She asked. Lorne nodded again. "Let's just say that I appealed to their hopeless romantic sides. But they're supporting this, and us, so I'm grateful." Lannie smiled and looked around. She once again noticed the doorway to the one room she had yet to see. Realizing that her feet were throbbing in the heels, she quickly took them off and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Lorne asked. Lannie looked at him slyly. "I'm going to check out the bedroom." She answered, walking towards the door. Lorne grinned and jumped up from the couch to follow her into the room.

The walls were painted a deep blue color, and there were windows facing the South with two comfortable chairs in front of them. There was a large bed in the middle of the room, much bigger than the regular beds in everyone else's quarters, with cream colored sheets. The headboard of the bed was wide, and on top of it were a few books, a light, and Lannie's favorite picture of her and Lorne. Across from the bed was a double dresser with a large mirror, and two closets on either side. The majority of Lorne's clothing was already hanging in the closet, with only a few of Lannie's things in the other.

"I figured you'd want to move your own things in here, so Cadman just brought a few things over." Lorne said to her. Lannie slowly walked around the room, but looked back up at Lorne.

"How far away are we from our old rooms?" She asked.

"Actually, we're only a floor down. There's no one really living on this level yet, so there wasn't much power, but when I spoke with Dr. Weir yesterday I convinced her to reroute just enough power for us." Lorne explained. Lannie nodded. She knew that there were these larger quarters here in the City, but for whatever reason most people stayed in the smaller rooms. She sat down on the bed as she finally started to adapt to her new surroundings. She and Lorne were going to live together. And Lannie had to admit, their new quarters were impressive. Lorne had really taken the time to make the place comfortable for both of them. The thought put into both this and the date was impressive, and Lannie couldn't believe that Lorne was such a romantic person. Sure, he always showed her signs of affection, but this was totally new.

Lannie lay back on the bed and tried to get comfortable, but she quickly remembered that she was wearing a dress. "Did Cadman bring over a few pairs of my pajamas?" Lannie asked, sitting up again. Lorne nodded and pointed over to the dresser. "Your side is the right." He said. He followed her over to the dresser and wrapped his arms around her.

"Hey." He said softly. "Can I just have one more minute to admire how beautiful you look in this dress?" Lannie blushed and turned around in his arms. Grinning slyly, she took a step back and slowly twirled around.

"Oh, yea. Gorgeous." Lorne murmured. Lannie giggled and then moved back over to the dresser. She opened a drawer and pulled out a pair of pajama pants and a tank top. Throwing a quick look at Lorne, she left the bedroom and headed to the bathroom.

The bathroom was fairly large, with a wide shower and two basin sinks. Lannie was once again impressed. Lorne had found the perfect quarters for them. Lannie quickly slipped out of her dress and sighed in relief as she pulled her pajama pants on and pulled the tank top over her head. Seeing as how she had never worn a dress before, it was definitely something she would have to get used to. She walked back into the living area, and with a thought dimmed the lights down.

When she entered the bedroom she saw that Lorne was lying on the bed and had also changed out of his dress clothes. He was wearing a pair of grey sweatpants and a white t-shirt with sleeves that barely covered his shoulders, revealing his muscular arms and a few tattoos. Lannie had been very surprised to see that Lorne had tattoos, but he had explained that it was 'the thing to do' when he was in basic and in other trainings. Lannie moved over to her closet and hung her dress up on an empty hanger that was there. Lannie turned back towards the bed and stood at the foot, looking at Lorne.

"So, I guess you've already picked your side?" She asked teasingly. Sighing dramatically, Lorne sat up and reached out to grab Lannie and pull her onto the bed. The two fell back into the middle of the bed, and Lannie instantly curled up in Lorne's arms.

"So." He said quietly, playing with her hair. "Did you have a good evening?"

Lannie looked up into Lorne's now grey-blue eyes. "I had the most amazing night of my life. Thus far." Lorne chuckled and kissed Lannie's forehead and pulled her closer to him. Within minutes, the two were fast asleep.

"Well, it's a good thing that I started your moving process, otherwise we'd be at it all day long, and that's definitely not fun." Cadman said, folding some of Lannie's shirts and putting them into a box. Lannie was sitting at her desk sorting through papers she had found in a drawer, deciding if they were important enough to keep or not. There was already a large trash bag full of things that she no longer wanted. Lannie sighed slightly and threw all the papers in the bag, not even reading all of them.

"It is a good thing, and I guess it's helpful also that I get to clean this place up, because I never realized how much stuff I have. How many boxes do I have already?" Lannie replied.

"Only four at the moment, but with the rest of your clothes and a few other things, you might have three more, maybe four. Do you want to start moving them down to your new place?" Cadman asked, winking at Lannie. Lannie had radioed Cadman once she had woken up that morning to ask for help in moving all her things. Lorne had a few boxes left in his room, which was already cleaned out and pretty much empty, so he was going to get his things moved in and then help Lannie unpack all of her belongings. Even though Cadman had known about the surprise, she still gushed over it with Lannie when she had arrived.

"No, Evan said that he would be by soon to help bring everything down. So let me help you fill the rest of the boxes. I have a feeling though that we're not going to have enough room and half of this is going to end up staying in the boxes." Lannie said. "For someone who's only been alive not even seven months, I have accumulated an impressive amount of possessions."

Cadman laughed. "Well that's what happens when people are excited about showing their culture to a person, especially when that person is you and you're always excited about everything. Don't worry about things ending up in boxes, it always happens. It's a good thing you have closet space for it all."

Lannie nodded slightly, biting her lip. She didn't want to let on the one secret about the room that she didn't even think Lorne knew about. There was another room attached to their quarters, one that was currently hidden behind the large tapestry of Lannie's. Lannie figured that she would use the small room to store things for the moment.

The door swished open and Major Lorne entered the room. He stepped over to Lannie and gave her a quick kiss.

"Hey Hun. Hello Cadman, how's the packing going?" Laura gestured around the room. "How do you think? Want to give us a hand?" She quipped back. He chuckled and grabbed an empty box.

"Why not. I'll pack up all your decorations and you and Cadman can finish packing your clothes." He said to Lannie.

"How is it possible that I have so many clothes? I wear a uniform most of the time!" Lannie bemoaned. Laura laughed.

"Because people wanted you to be comfortable, and since you're not really part of the expedition you don't always need to wear a uniform. And it's not like you don't enjoy wearing all your clothes. Be grateful, I have like 3 outfits that aren't regulation, and I would kill to have civvies to wear all the time. Besides, it just looks like you have a lot because the boxes are small." She said. Lannie shrugged.

"I guess so. I suppose it just looks like I have so much stuff because I'm moving it all. But hey, we're almost done, which is good." Lannie commented. The three quickly managed to finish all the packing within the next twenty minutes, and then started loading everything onto the cart that Lorne had brought with him into the room.

"Well, my part is done. I expect a housewarming invitation as soon as you two are completely settled in. I'll see you later." With that, Cadman left the two in Lannie's room. Lorne turned to Lannie and pulled her to him.

"So, you ready to say goodbye to your room?" He asked her. Lannie took one more look around her room. Everything was removed from the walls, the books were gone, and her closet was empty. It looked eerily empty, and Lannie sighed.

"Yes, I think I'm ready. This was a nice place to live, but I look forward more to the future." She grinned and looked up at Lorne, who leaned down and kissed her happily. The two turned and Lorne pushed the cart out of the door.

Two exhausting hours later, Lannie collapsed onto one of the couches in her and Lorne's new quarters. She had unpacked the majority of her things, but there were still two boxes left over. Currently they were at the bottom of her closet, which had been filled with her clothes, as well as the three drawers in the dresser that were hers. Lorne had left her to unpack her clothing as he tackled all of the trinkets and decorations that she had. There were now a few more pictures up on the walls, and decorations around the room as well. The coffee table held a small assortment of Athosian candles and a book or two, and the shelves that were on one part of a wall were full of books collected both by Lannie and Lorne.

Lorne came over and sat down next to Lannie. "Well, you're all moved in." He said, smiling at her. Lannie turned her head and smiled tiredly back at him.

"Yes, I am. But I am also very tired because of it." She lay down on the couch and put her legs across Lorne's. Lorne rubbed her calves and smiled at her.

"Well, as tiring as I'm sure it was, I'm glad you're finally here. Hey, do you really want to have a housewarming, like Cadman suggested?" He asked her. Lannie shrugged.

"Well, seeing as how you asked Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard permission to do all of this, I figure we owe it to them to invite them over to see the place. And because they know, McKay, Teyla, Ronon, and Carson also know about it. It might be a nice idea, actually. We could cook a dinner and have everyone over at once. We have the space, and the couches. It's up to you, though, if you feel comfortable having them over and cooking a meal for them." Lannie said.

"Or we could always do a potluck. That's when everyone brings one thing of food over. But then again, there's no guarantee that they'd bring over anything decent, so maybe I should cook. You want to help me and learn if I do that?" He asked her. Lannie smiled.

"Sure. I do want to learn how to cook. Right now I only know how to boil water for tea, which is actually what I would love right now. And since we have a kitchen, I can make some." Lannie made to move off of the couch, but Lorne stopped her.

"I'll go make us some tea, you relax." He said, standing and walking to the kitchen area. As he went about getting the water set, he said, "So, when would you want to have this housewarming? I have a mission the day after next to escort Dr. Lindsay to her weekly check in with the people on 177, so we could have it after that, if you want. It would also give us a few days just to ourselves to adjust to everything. What do you think?"

Lannie nodded. "That sounds good. I definitely think we need some alone time together before we have company." She grinned wickedly, as Lorne left the kitchen to come over to kiss Lannie.

"I completely agree." He said. Lannie grinned as Lorne kissed her again, then went back to get their cups of tea. He walked back over to the couch, and the two sat comfortably together in their new quarters.

----------TBC------------

Thoughts? I tried to describe the quarters as best as I could, I have this image in my mind of the perfect space, but for some reason it's a little tricky for me to express it. Also, I thought it 'gentlemanly' of Lorne to ask permission to move in with Lannie. And obviously, there's a lead in to Coup D'Etat, which will probably be my next chapter. I don't know when I'll have a chance to write it, but I have some really good ideas for ways to parallel it. So, I really hope you enjoyed it, and please review!


	26. Coup and Food

Disclaimer: I own none of the Characters in the Stargate Universe. Lannie, however, is mine, and how I wish I were her.

Author's Note: So, this is the longest chapter to date, as well as it taking the longest to write. School and life and other ideas for stories unfortunately got in the way, but now I'm back, I hope. Obviously, this parallels Coup D'Etat, and although I didn't italicize the actual dialogue, you'll know what's from the show and what isn't. There are also brief mentions of SG-1, which are fairly obvious. This chapter was a challenge but also fun, and the dinner scene at the end took me all day today to complete. So many characters, and they all have at least one line, because if I had continuous dialogue I'd have to make it a completely new chapter and it would take forever to get the voices down correctly. So, I hope you enjoy, I've had a lot of really positive reviews that I want to say a huge thank you for, and hopefully it won't take me a whole month to write another chapter (although if I did by the time I parallel with Allies it will be July and so I can jump right into season 3. Hmmm…..). So please read, enjoy, and review!

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Two days later Lannie woke up in Lorne's big, strong arms. She snuggled into him a little more, wishing that neither of them had to get up to work. On the nightstand beside Lorne's side of the bed, the alarm was going off just loud enough to wake both of them up easily. Next to her Lorne was also awake, but pretending not to be just for the sake of being able to hold Lannie for that much longer. Finally, though, the beeping got to be too much and he rolled over and turned the alarm off.

"Time to get up?" Lannie asked quietly. Lorne turned back to her and gave her a kiss. "I'm afraid so, Hun. You just go back to bed." He replied. Lannie shifted to snuggle deeper into the covers while Lorne reluctantly rolled out and made his way to the bathroom to get himself ready for the day.

In the now three days that Lannie and Lorne had been living together officially, they had already established a convenient routine. Lorne would always get in the bathroom first, letting Lannie, who really didn't have to wake up to work at a specific time, sleep for a little while longer. Lorne would then come back into the bedroom and finish getting dressed, waking Lannie up again when he left. Lannie would then get out of bed and get herself ready, and by the time she was going to breakfast Lorne would be finished with his morning meeting he would meet her in the Mess Hall. When Cadman had found out, she thought that it was hysterical that they were already acting like 'an old married couple'. Lannie had just smiled, knowing that it would take a while longer for them to have a more effective system down.

Today Lannie rolled over under the warm covers and closed her eyes again. She had told everyone that she was spending the day in her new quarters fixing them up, because there were still a few boxes left out, and Lannie had too many ideas on how she wanted the room to look. Dr. McKay had been a bit upset when Lannie had announced this, because he had wanted her to help him work on a project, but had relented, knowing that it would get done soon enough. She sighed happily to herself, already enjoying her morning.

Lorne returned to the bedroom fifteen minutes later and quickly got dressed in his uniform. Grabbing his boots, which were at the bottom of his closet, he made his way over to Lannie's side of the bed and sat down gently next to her. "I know you're still awake, Lan. I just want to say a quick hello and goodbye before you decide to doze off again." He said to her, pulling one of his boots on.

Lannie begrudgingly rolled over to face him and opened her eyes. "Hey." She said, burrowing her head a little more into the pillow. "You're going to 177 today?" She asked him. Tying the laces on his second boot, he sighed and nodded.

"Yes, unfortunately. But, the people aren't that bad, and Dr. Lindsay isn't a pain to escort around like a few other people around here I've dealt with." Lannie smiled, knowing exactly who he was talking about. "Plus, I give her props. She was the first person in the SGC to come in contact with an Ori Prior besides Dr. Jackson. Of course she still seems pretty shaken up by the fact that the people of the planet she was on that first encountered the Prior revolted against her. But she knows what she's doing, and as long as I get to come home as fast as possible I can't complain."

Lannie shuddered at the mention of the Ori. When she had heard that Earth was trying to deal with them, she had gotten agitated and refused to give any possible information about them, if she had any at all. Lorne reached out and brushed a stray strand of hair away from Lannie's face.

"When are you planning on getting back here?" Lannie asked him, fending off the thoughts of the Ori. "Well, it may be morning here, but when we get there it'll be the afternoon, and then we'll have to go have evening tea with some of the people, so I'm just going to say tonight their time, late afternoon our time. Does that sound okay with you?" He asked her, leaning more towards her. Lannie smiled.

"Just as long as you come home in one piece and with an idea of what we want to make for our little dinner party in a few days." Lannie responded. She leaned towards him and gave him a quick kiss. "Now get going, you don't want to be late for a briefing."

"What, me, late?" Lorne joked quickly, then kissed Lannie again and stood up from the bed, grabbing the last of his things from the small table by the entrance to the bedroom. He turned back to Lannie.

"I'll see you later. I love you." He said. Lannie smiled back. "Love you too. Be safe." With a quick smile, Lorne left their quarters. Lannie sighed happily, pushing a small, troublesome feeling to the back of her mind. Resetting the alarm for two more hours, Lannie closed her eyes and fell back asleep.

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"This is quite a spread you have out for us, Deera." Major Lorne said to the young woman who was busily putting food down onto the table. "You really don't have to go all out."

"It is the least I can do. You have helped our people so much these past few months, and I'm afraid that we haven't shown you how truly grateful we are." Deera replied. Lorne smiled at her quickly, then reached for a cup of tea. He didn't want to eat anything, because he was hoping that when he got back to Atlantis he and Lannie would go get dinner together. Next to him, Dr. Lindsay was doing the same, although she helped herself to a few food items. Lorne's men also helped themselves.

"Dr. Lindsay, might I have a moment alone with you?" Deera asked suddenly. Lindsay looked up and smiled. "Of course." She replied, and stood to follow the woman out of the room. Lorne watched them leave cautiously, but continued to sip his tea.

Suddenly, three men appeared out of nowhere and stunned Lorne's teammates. Lorne stood, reaching for his P-90, but the odds weren't in his favor. Instead, he clicked his radio on.

"Lindsay, go radio for backup." He said, calmly. For some reason the men allowed him to talk to her.

"Sir?" Dr. Lindsay questioned. "Just go now, Doctor." He said, as another man advanced from a shadow and stood in front of Lorne, taking the radio from him.

"I think that's enough conversation for now." The man said. He pointed a gun straight at Lorne's head as one of the other men took his weapons from him. Lorne kept calm, recognizing the men's uniforms and weapons as Genii. He had yet to meet one until now, but was well aware of what they looked like.

"What do you want?" He asked coolly. The Genii smiled evilly. "I want you to do as I say, otherwise you'll be just like the rest of your men. Do you understand, Major?" He asked. Lorne silently nodded. Another man stepped forward and threw a bundle at the Major. He looked down to see that it was a change of clothing.

"Put that on." The head Genii ordered. Lorne looked confused at him, but obeyed as soon as the safety was disengaged from the gun pointed at his head. Around him, the other three Genii were pulling the Atlantis uniforms off of his team and replacing them with garb similar to what Lorne was now wearing.

"I'll need your identification also, Major. You call them dog tags, correct?" The Lead Genii said. Lorne reluctantly pulled the chain off from around his neck and handed it to him.

"Thank you. Now, Major, enjoy your little nap." The Genii said, as one of the others shot Lorne with a Stunner. Lorne winced as the shock flew threw his body, and then crumpled to the floor.

"Now, let's get them out of here and let the rest set everything up for when our dear Colonel shows up." The Genii said, as the other men went into another room with the Atlantis uniforms and came out moments later with three bodies. Two more Genii arrived, and they pulled Lorne and his team from off the floor and carried them out of the house.

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Back at Atlantis, Lannie was in the small, apparently still secret other room in her and Lorne's quarters. She was just finishing rearranging the boxes when she sensed the Gate activate. When she sensed the radio transmission from Dr. Lindsay, however, the nagging feeling in the back of her mind pushed itself to the forefront and became more insistent. Something wasn't right. She quickly left the room and stood in the Living Room, trying to get a sense of what else was happening. Her radio soon told her everything.

"Colonel Sheppard, Dr. McKay, Teyla, and Ronon, please report to the Gate Room." The technician's voice sounded. Her radio still tweaked, she heard the Colonel connect to Dr. Weir.

" Elizabeth, what's going on?" He asked. "Dr. Lindsay just radioed in. Apparently they need backup out there. I need you to go." Weir replied. "I'll be there in a minute." The Colonel replied, breaking the connection. Lannie headed out of her quarters to try and intercept the Colonel in the Armory.

Lannie was walking quickly down the hall towards the Armory when she saw Colonel Sheppard step out of the room. "Colonel!" She called to him.

"Lannie, I don't have time right now, I have to go." He replied steadily, making sure that his P-90 was prepped.

"I know that, Colonel, I just wanted to…" Sheppard waved her off. "Lannie, I'm really sorry, but I really have to go. We can talk when I get back." He said to her, as he turned and headed towards the Gate Room, leaving Lannie standing there looking defeated.

"It may be too late then." She said softly to herself, tilting her head up to the ceiling in a quick silent prayer. With a heavy sigh, she turned around and headed back to her room. As she entered, she sensed the Gate activate once again as Colonel Sheppard and his team stepped through. Sighing heavily, she sat down at her computer to try to figure out what was going on.

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Major Lorne woke up with a slight headache, bound and gagged. He realized they were still on the planet, however they were on the outskirts of the village in a small shack. His other men were still unconscious, however there was a man with dark hair standing over one of them, drawing a blood sample. Lorne stayed still, trying to avoid the attention of the Genii. It didn't matter, because the Genii drawing the blood stood and turned to Lorne.

"Ah, Major, I see that you've woken up." He said, smiling cruelly. Lorne shifted uncomfortable as the Genii reached down and undid the gag covering Lorne's mouth. Lorne coughed, looking up at the man.

"Who are you? And why are you taking blood from my men?" Lorne asked him. The Genii officer smiled again and pulled one of Lorne's arms forward, pulling up the sleeve.

"My name," He said, pulling out another syringe, "Is Ladon Radim, chief scientist of the Genii. You are Major Lorne of the Atlantis expedition, and what I am doing is taking some of your blood for research purposes. Once I have taken this sample, I will be leaving and you and your men will be transported to another planet to be held should we need you again. And that is all you need to know."

With that, Ladon drew blood quickly from the Major. Lorne winced slightly but kept his cool.

"Why do you need my blood?" He asked Ladon. Ladon smiled once again and shook his head. "That is none of your concern, Major. I thank you for your contribution to science, and bid you farewell." Ladon placed the gag back over Lorne's mouth and turned to leave the room. Lorne sat there in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes more until four more Genii soldiers entered the room, pulling Lorne to his feet and dragging the rest of his men out of the building. He was forced along a path towards the Stargate, and once activated pushed through to the other side.

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Lannie sensed the Gate activate again, heard a call for a medical team, and then sensed the Med team go through the Gate. She continued searching through the Atlantis computer system for some indication as to what was going on. Twenty minutes later, the Gate reactivated, and Lannie knew that Colonel Sheppard and the rest had returned. Lorne, however, was not with them. Lannie stood up from her desk, determined to find out from Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard what was happening. She made her way to the Gate Room, standing in the doorway watching Dr. Weir address someone through a video feed. The man, a Genii, held up a ZPM on his side, and Lannie huffed slightly. She could sense that it was depleted, but she wouldn't say anything. Maybe eventually the Atlantis expedition would learn how to recharge a ZPM, but until then she would leave them to learn at their own pace.

The transmission shut off, and the people in the Control Room slowly went back to their tasks. Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard stood looking at one another, Weir calling for Dr. McKay, Teyla, and Ronon. Lannie walked towards the two.

"Dr. Weir, Colonel Sheppard, what is going on here?" Lannie inquired. Dr. Weir turned around to face her quickly, her face void of emotion.

"Lannie. Why don't you go wait for me in my office, I'll be in there to speak with you in a few minutes." She replied. Lannie's eyes narrowed in frustration, but turned and stalked into Weir's office, pulling a book out from her jacket pocket. She knew this would take a while. Dr. Weir meanwhile turned and raised an eyebrow at Colonel Sheppard, who just sighed and shrugged, and the two walked into the Conference Room.

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"We should be dealing with Lorne and his team- find out what happened to them." Sheppard said.

"Teyla and Ronon will continue with that investigation, and you can join them once you've finished up with this." Weir replied.

"Alright." He responded. "Now what are we going to do about Lannie?" They all looked around the room at each other, knowing that Lannie was in Weir's office wanting answers.

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Twenty minutes and two chapters later, Dr. Weir returned to her office. Lannie was sprawled out on her couch with her book, but immediately sat up and turned to look at her. Dr. Weir gave her a slight smile and sat down next to her on the couch.

"Lannie," Weir began. "We received a call for backup from Dr. Lindsay. Colonel Sheppard and his team went out there, and were told that there had been an altercation. When John and his team arrived where the problem was, the house was burned down. Lannie, there were also bodies there. One of them had these on them." Dr. Weir held out Lorne's dog tags, which John had given to her during the meeting. Lannie took them gingerly, still saying nothing. Dr Weir carefully continued.

" Carson is performing autopsies now, so we won't know anything for a while. I know this is very difficult for you Lannie, and if there is anything I can do, please let me know. We can schedule you an appointment with Dr. Heightmeyer…"

"No." Lannie cut her off. "Lorne's not dead."

"Lannie." Dr. Weir tried to console her, thinking that she was in denial.

"No, you don't understand. Evan is still alive, he's not dead." Lannie said. Weir smiled sadly at her. "We don't know that Lannie. All we know is that there are bodies down in the Infirmary that had the identification of the Major and his team. We can't make any assumptions either way." Lannie stood up, still clutching the dog tags in her hand.

"He is still alive. And I need answers as to where he is." Lannie stated firmly. She then turned and quickly left the office. Weir sank back into the couch, sighing heavily. She then looked up into the Control Room to see Rodney waving her over, so she stood from the couch and left her office.

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Teyla sighed slightly. "Can you think of any reason, any reason at all that the people of this village would want to attack Lorne and his men?" She asked Dr. Lindsay. After questioning her for the past ten minutes they had barely received any useful information.

"No." Lindsay answered. Ronon sat there as well, shaking his head slightly with exasperation. All three looked up when the doors to the room flew open and Lannie stepped through. Major Lorne's dog tags were now around her neck, and her hands were on her hips defiantly.

"Dr. Lindsay." Lannie said darkly. "It's time for you to tell us the truth about where they took my boyfriend." She stared down the increasingly frightened Dr. Lindsay, not noticing Teyla standing and cautiously walking towards her.

"Lannie." Teyla said quietly, resting her hand on Lannie's shoulder. "I think Ronon and I have questioned her enough. Dr. Lindsay does not know what happened to the Major and his men." Teyla turned Lannie to her so that they were eye-to-eye.

"I suggest you return to your quarters. I understand you want to find the Major, but you could possibly cause more harm than good. Please believe me when I say that we will let you know the moment we learn anything. Please, Lannie." Teyla looked at her warmly, while at the same time firm. Lannie sighed and closed her eyes. She was so frustrated with people not letting her help that she was at the verge of giving up. She opened them again and nodded slightly at Teyla.

"As long as you promise. Besides, I already know what Beckett is about to tell you." As she said this, Teyla, Ronon, and Lannie's radios (Lannie's still tweaked to intercept all communication) came to life. "Dr. Weir, Telya, and Ronon, please come to the Infirmary." Beckett's voice said. Ronon stood from the table as Teyla took a step back from Lannie. They bowed heads slightly, then all three left the room, leaving Dr. Lindsay to sag into her seat.

Lannie went back to her room by way of the Control Room, looking down at the open Gate. She could see Colonel Sheppard greeting who she suspected was the Genii named Ladon, surrounded by various military personnel. Lannie automatically knew his intentions, and from somewhere else in his mind saw a flash of Major Lorne in a building. She stopped walking, debating whether or not to take matters into her own hands, but then continued back to her quarters. It was up to everyone else to figure out what was going on. Until they did, Lannie would be in her room, observing from a distance.

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Major Lorne had given up pacing around the cell he and his men now occupied. His teammates were now awake and scattered in various areas around the cell. Lorne was now sitting on a bench near the door, so that he could see if anyone was coming at any time. They were all silent, lost in their own thoughts as well as being careful in case the Genii had the cell bugged. Lorne absently rubbed his arm. They had taken a few more blood samples in the last few hours, but hadn't come back for a while. Lorne rested his head against the wall. He hoped that Lannie wasn't freaking out about him being missing. He knew that she could go to drastic lengths to find him, and although hoped slightly that she would, also hoped more that she was allowing Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard the opportunity to proceed with their own investigation. Focusing his thoughts on Lannie helped keep Evan calm through most of this. He knew it was odd, but thinking of ideas for future surprises and possible dates for the two of them helped him to pass the time in his captivity. He also hoped that help would come soon, because he just wanted to get back to Atlantis.

Lorne didn't have to wait too long. A short while after getting settled into his bench, he heard movement in the hallway. He stood just in time to see Ladon leading a group of Genii soldiers, all who were dragging an Atlantis team member. The cell opened, and they were all tossed in, and Lorne was surprised to see Dr. McKay along with them. Colonel Sheppard, however, wasn't with them. Once the Genii had left, Lorne and his men checked the others to make sure they were okay, but then resumed their positions in the cell.

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Lannie was sitting at her computer attempting to watch a movie when the bell chimed at her door. She paused the movie and waved her hand over the panel to open the door to see who it was. Teyla stood there, her hands folded in front of her.

"Teyla, I wasn't expecting you to stop by. Please, come in." Lannie said, gesturing for her to enter. Teyla flashed Lannie a brief smile and entered the room.

"I apologize if it's a little messy, but we're not having our little housewarming event for another few days. You're one of the few who have seen it so far." Lannie said.

"I am surprised no one has stopped by yet. However, it does make sense to wait until you are settled, and by you having this housewarming everyone can see your new quarters all at once. I am honored to be one of the first to see it, it is quite lovely." Teyla responded, looking around. Lannie led Teyla over to one of the couches and the two sat down.

"So, what brings you here?" Lannie asked. Teyla took a calm breath before she began.

"Ronon and I returned to 177 to speak with some of the villagers. They were definitely hiding something, and we did not find out what until one of them gave us a bag. Inside were pictures of members of different Atlantis teams, and the Major's picture was one of them. Colonel Sheppard and Dr. McKay were also there. Dr. Weir figured out that all the pictures were connected by the people in them having the gene of the ancestors. There were promises of rewards on the pictures as well, so for whatever reason we believe that the Genii wanted these men." Teyla explained.

"Why am I not surprised?" Lannie mused. Teyla smiled, then continued. "The bodies that we brought back are Genii. They apparently died of a radiation poisoning, but were left in the house that we found. It's possible that Major Lorne is still alive, and being held by the Genii." She finished. Lannie nodded.

"That's exactly what is going on. Dr. Weir is currently failing at attempts to negotiate with the one named Cowen. I can sense Lorne's presence on the other side of the Gate. He is alive and well. I just hope that Colonel Sheppard and the others can get them all back here safely." Lannie responded. Teyla's eyes widened at Lannie's statement about Cowen.

"Well, I promised you I would tell you what we found. I am being called to the Control Room, so I will speak with you later." Teyla stood, and with a slight bow left the room. Lannie sank back into the couch. Lorne was still alive, and alright. Now all she had to do was hope that all the Atlantis personnel on that planet made it home safely.

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Lorne sat on the bench with his head in his hands. The apparent strike team plus McKay were still unconscious, and the Colonel had yet to be brought in. He soon heard movement from down the hall, and could see two people approaching the cell, having a conversation. As soon as the men were in better view, Lorne saw that it was Ladon and Colonel Sheppard. Lorne stood immediately as the cell opened.

"Lorne!" Sheppard said, very surprised.

"Starting to put it all together?" Ladon asked him. "I'm getting there." John responded as he stepped into the cell. Lorne walked towards him, and the two made their way to a corner of the cell.

"Way to be alive." Sheppard quipped.

"Thanks, sir." Lorne responded with equal dry humor. "So, have you come to rescue us?"

"Well, until about a moment ago I thought you were dead, but now that I see you speaking and breathing, yea, I'm thinking about it." Sheppard responded casually.

"Well, good. Let me know if there's anything we can do to help." Lorne responded. The two were silent for a moment.

"Lannie will be happy to see you alive." Sheppard commented. Lorne looked at him. "She's been a bit, what's the right word, demanding, about what's going on and what we were doing to find you. She was convinced you were alive while we thought you were dead, and apparently she was right." He explained. Lorne looked back out of the cell.

"That's my girl." He said, and Sheppard cracked a small smile.

"Sir." One of Lorne's men spoke up. The two turned around and saw that the strike team and McKay were beginning to wake up. Sheppard moved towards Rodney while Lorne checked on one of the marines.

"What the hell happened?" McKay asked groggily.

"We got gassed." Sheppard replied. The two continued their normal banter until Ladon and two of his men opened the door to the cell.

"Times up." Ladon said. Pausing for a moment, he looked pointedly at Colonel Sheppard. "Weir says that your Dr. Beckett can cure the people I sent through the Gate. Is that true?"

Lorne slowly stood up as Sheppard replied. "Beckett's the best doctor in two galaxies. If there's a cure, he's got it." He said calmly. Ladon pondered this for a moment, then turned to the other Genii.

"We're letting them go." He said simply. With that, they lowered their weapons and let the Atlantis personnel out of the cell. They all began walking down the hallway while Ladon and Sheppard continued their conversation. Lorne fell into step with Rodney, who gave him a quick look.

"Major. Good to see you. Uh, Lannie will be thrilled." He commented. Lorne chuckled slightly. Lannie was definitely one of a kind, and Evan couldn't wait to get back to her. Suddenly, they were stopped in front of a door, with two other Genii officers standing there.

"It's alright. We're just escorting these prisoners." Almost as soon as the two had lowered their weapons they were killed, and Ladon turned to Colonel Sheppard.

"There's a hidden passage this way. We shouldn't run into any more resistance." Sheppard nodded, and the group took off down the passage. The group soon made it to the Stargate, and Ladon and his men quickly took out the two Genii soldiers that were there.

"McKay, use your IDC." Sheppard said. Rodney quickly inputted his code. Sheppard nodded to them, and McKay and the strike team stepped through, followed by Lorne and his men. Sheppard watched Ladon take one more look around, and then the two stepped through the Gate together.

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Lannie knew the exact moment that Major Lorne returned to Atlantis. Stopping the movie again, she quickly grabbed her sneakers and started putting them on as quickly as possible. She needed to get down to the Gate Room to see him. As soon as the second shoe was on, Lannie tore out of her quarters, one hand clutched to Lorne's dog tags as she ran.

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Lorne sighed in relief when he walked back into the Atlantis Gate Room. Weir nodded quickly at him as he went to stand next to her, then stood looking at Sheppard and Ladon, who were now speaking to Cowen over the radio.

"Shield up." Sheppard said, as the shield was raised and a blast hit against it. He looked over at Ladon as the two stepped towards Dr. Weir.

"Now please, I would like to see my sister." He said to her. Elizabeth gave a slight nod to John. "She's in the infirmary." She said.

"Come on, I'll take you to there." Sheppard said to Ladon. The two began walking towards the door but stopped when Lannie came tearing through. Lorne's eyes lit up and he took a step towards her.

"Evan!" Lannie cried, running to him and throwing herself into his arms. Lorne grabbed hold of her and lifted her slightly off the ground, hugging her as tightly as possible. Lannie wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her head into his shoulder. Dr. Weir smiled at the two, and many of the other personnel in the room also looked appreciatively at the now reunited couple. Ladon turned to Sheppard as the two still stood at the doorway, also watching Lorne and Lannie.

"Who is that?" Ladon inquired. Sheppard smirked slightly.

"That," he said, "Is Major Lorne's girlfriend. And let me just say, if he hadn't come through the Gate with us, you would be facing her wrath right now. And trust me, that's something you never want to experience. Come on, let's go see your sister." With one last look, Ladon turned and followed Colonel Sheppard out of the Gate Room.

Lorne put Lannie back down gently, still holding on to her. "Come on." He whispered to her softly, and the two left the Gate Room, arms around each other. Within moments the two were back in their quarters. Lorne led them to their small balcony. Lannie continued to hold on to him. Lorne smiled softly and ran one of his hands through her hair.

"So," he said softly, "I hear that you decided to be a rebel today." Lannie looked up into his eyes and gave him a half smile.

"They wouldn't believe you were alive. It was very frustrating. I gave up helping them after a while, because they were being too stubborn." She answered.

"Well, the way Sheppard told me it was you being stubborn, Lan. But I appreciate it. Plus, I think it's adorable. But that's just me." He responded, grinning at her. Lannie smiled as well, but then her face turned more serious.

"When I heard Dr. Lindsay radio in, I was so worried. I didn't know what was happening to you, or who had taken you. It wasn't until Ladon came here the first time that I realized what was happening." Lorne gave her a quizzical look. "I saw an image of you tied up in a building in his mind. That's when everything made sense. It was also the moment I stopped interfering. And now I am just so glad that you are back. I was really afraid I wasn't going to see you again, Evan." Lannie said, her eyes welling up with tears.

Lorne pulled her once again into a tight hug. "Hey now, don't cry. I'm back, safe and sound, so there's nothing to worry about anymore." A cool breeze began blowing across the balcony, so Lorne led Lannie back into their quarters and sat them down together on one of the couches. Lannie curled into Lorne's side, and he chuckled softly.

"You know, for a girl who's not only an Ancient but can boss around both Colonel Sheppard and Dr. McKay, you are acting like such a softie right now." He quipped. Lannie, faking anger, sat up and punched him in the arm.

"Hey now." He said, poking her back. Lannie let out a squeak and squirmed out of his way, but Lorne managed to grab her and started tickling her. Lannie dissolved into a fit of giggles as she tried to worm her way out of Lorne's reach. Within minutes Lorne had Lannie pinned down on the couch.

"You give?" He asked teasingly. Lannie gasped for breath, nodding weakly. Lorne grinned, and then bent his head down to kiss her. The two were quickly entangled, kissing each other as if they had been apart for weeks, and not for just a day. They were so wrapped up that it took the door chime ringing twice and a loud knocking on the door to break them apart.

"Who is it?" Lorne called out, still hovering over Lannie, who was grinning from ear to ear.

"It's Colonel Sheppard." Came the reply. Lorne immediately moved to sit next to Lannie, who managed a slight groan about the interruption but made herself comfortable by throwing her legs across Lorne's lap.

"Come on in." Lorne called, smirking at Lannie. The door swished open, and the Colonel took a step inside.

"Sorry to interrupt your little reunion, but I just wanted to check up on you and see how you're doing. I also have a message from Beckett, he wants to see you as well when you get a chance."

"Yes sir, I'll drop by the Infirmary later. And I'm fine Sir, thank you." Lorne replied. Lannie smiled at Sheppard, who was taking a quick look around their quarters.

"You were technically supposed to see our place in two days, Colonel. I apologize if things seem to be a bit messy." Lannie said. Sheppard flashed her a smile.

"Hey, I was bound to stop by whether we had this little Coup today or not. Besides, now that I see your setup, I can find you a better housewarming gift than the one I was going to give you." He stated. Lannie smiled.

"Well, Major I hope that you can find the time tomorrow to manage a debrief. Until then, have a good evening, and try to get some rest." He threw a quick look at Lannie, who blushed embarrassedly. Lorne stayed his normal cool and nodded. "Have a good night, Sir." With a slight nod of his head, Sheppard turned and left the room. Lorne gave a small sigh, then turned his head to Lannie.

"Now, where were we?" He asked devilishly, and then scooped Lannie up into his arms and carried her towards their bedroom. Lannie giggled at Lorne's sudden overabundance of romance. He put her down on the bed, then stood back up and smiled quickly at Lannie.

"Okay, before we continue showing each other how much we missed each other, I need to get these Genii clothes off." He stated. Lannie giggled again.

"I don't know, I kind of like them." Lannie said. "You look cute." Lorne grimaced slightly. "I wouldn't call being forced to change out of your uniform at gunpoint into another change of clothes cute. They even took my dog tags." He said, turning around and pulling off the jacket. He went into his drawer and grabbed a worn gray t-shirt and pajama pants and quickly pulled them on. He heard a slight clink of something metal, and turned around to see Lannie playing with something around her neck.

"You mean these dog tags?" She asked innocently, pulling them off and dangling them in the air. Lorne grinned and flopped onto the bed, taking the tags from Lannie.

"How'd you get them?" He asked.

"Sheppard found them on one of the dummy bodies, and Weir gave them to me when she attempted to give me her 'We don't think he's alive' speech. I figured you were going to want them back, seeing as how I don't think they have a machine here to make you more." Lannie said. Lorne dropped the chain onto his night table and turned back to Lannie.

"Thank you for taking care of them." He said, kissing her softly. Lannie responded in kind, and the two once again were lost in each other.

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Two days later, Lannie was franticly running around the room busily setting the table and rearranging the books and decorations around the room. Major Lorne was in the kitchen area putting the finishing touches on the food for the evening.

"Evan, do we have enough utensils? And do you think I should put some candles on the table to light during dinner?" Lannie asked, very frazzled. She leaned over the small divider between the kitchen area and the main room to grab the utensils from off of the counter. Lorne quickly grabbed her hand.

"Lannie, look at me." She looked up at his laughing blue eyes. "Take a deep breath. This is going to go off without a hitch. Trust me. We have everything all set, and you just need to calm down a little, okay?" He gave her a quick kiss, as Lannie relaxed slightly and smiled at him.

"I know. I think I'm just nervous. How's the food coming?" She asked him.

"Everything's going to be excellent, don't worry about a thing. Finish setting the table and then finish getting ready yourself." Lannie had been running around their quarters barefoot and with casual clothes on, while Lorne was already wearing a nice pair of khakis and his white under-shirt. His dress shirt was folded over a chair on the dining room table for him to put on quickly before everyone arrived. Lannie quickly finished setting the table and then dashed into the bedroom to change. Quickly shedding her clothes, she pulled on a flowy turquoise skirt and a white top. Rummaging around the bottom of her closet for a moment, she quickly pulled out a pair of matching turquoise sandals and slipped them on. Taking a deep breath, she stood in front of the mirror and brushed her hair out, and then applied a little powder to her face and lip gloss. Taking a step back, she smiled to herself. This housewarming was going to be fun.

"Are we all ready?" Lannie asked as she stepped back out of the bedroom, pulling a curtain across it to separate it from the rest of the living area. Lorne looked up at her and grinned.

"I'm all done in here, the food is in the oven, and you made the salad earlier, and you said that Cadman and Carson are bringing the dessert, so yea, I think we're all set." He left the kitchen area and grabbed his shirt from off the chair and swiftly put it on, leaving the top button undone. He walked to Lannie and gave her a quick twirl as she giggled.

"Laura and Carson will be here any moment." Lannie informed him.

"Is that so? Well, they're not here just yet." He said devilishly as he bent down to kiss her laughing mouth.

"Geez you two, get a room. Oh, wait. This is your room. Okay, keep the over abundance of affection to a minimum tonight, and maybe we can actually enjoy our meal." Cadman quipped, standing in the doorway with Carson right behind her. Lannie laughed embarrassedly and pulled away from Lorne.

"Hey Laura. Hi Carson. Sorry about that." Lannie said. Lorne moved behind her and put his arms around her stomach. "I'm not." He whispered in her ear to make her giggle again. Shaking her head, Laura entered their quarters and Carson followed suit, carrying a box in his hands.

"Hello Major, Lannie. Where can I put this?" He asked the two. Lorne moved away from Lannie.

"Let me get that for you and put it in the kitchen. I'm hoping that's our dessert." He said.

"Aye, it's apple pie. I figured it was something everyone would enjoy and Rodney wouldn't complain about." Carson replied as the two men walked into the kitchen to put the pie somewhere safe. Cadman walked over to Lannie and gave her a quick hug.

"So, are you excited for all of this? You did a great job decorating the place, Lannie." Cadman said to her. Lannie smiled.

"Thanks. I was a bit, what's the right word, frazzled? Stressed? I was a bit stressed earlier, but now that I know everything's all set, I'm a little calmer." Lannie replied.

"Well, I have to say I think this will be fun, and you look fantastic. Lorne doesn't look to bad himself, either." Cadman replied, wriggling her eyebrows at Lannie.

"Keep your eyes on your own man, and leave mine alone Laura." Lannie joked. The two girls laughed as the men rejoined them. The door soon chimed again, and Teyla and Ronon entered.

"Hi Teyla, hey Ronon, I'm so glad you two could come." Lannie said, walking towards them. Teyla smiled and handed Lannie two bottles.

"Thank you for inviting us. I brought some Athosian wine, if that is alright." Teyla responded.

"Thank you so much, we'll have it with the dinner. Please, make yourselves comfortable. Ronon, don't look so awkward, its just friends having dinner together." Lannie joked to him. Ronon smiled briefly.

"I didn't bring anything because I wasn't sure what you two would have wanted." He said.

"That's fine. As long as you brought your appetite, that's all we need. We have extra food because we know how you and Rodney eat." Lannie said, and Ronon smiled at her comment. At that moment, Rodney entered carrying a small plant. Lannie handed the bottles of wine off to Lorne and went to greet Rodney.

" Welcome Dr. McKay, I'm glad you could come tonight." Lannie said.

"Yes, well, everyone else is here, and it's nice to um, get out of the lab for an evening. I, uh, brought this for you." He hastily handed Lannie the small plant. "It's a type of cactus, they don't need a lot of watering, and they can grow to be fairly big. I figured you would like it. I think it also flowers a little in the spring."

"Thank you so much, Rodney, this is wonderful." She flashed him a bright smile and went to the balcony doors and put the plant on the small table there.

"Hey Lannie, Colonel Sheppard is here." Lorne called to her. Lannie turned and smiled as John gave her a quick little wave as he headed over to say hi to Teyla and Ronon. Carson and Rodney were talking, and so Cadman came over and stood next to Lannie.

"So far so good." She commented. Lannie smiled at her.

"Yes. The only person missing is Dr. Weir, and then we can start dinner." Lannie said. Laura nodded. At that moment, the door opened once more and Dr. Weir stepped through.

"Hello everyone, sorry for being late." She said. Lannie walked over to her.

"That's okay Dr. Weir, I'm glad you could make it." She said. Dr. Weir smiled at her.

"I have a gift for the two of you, and its right outside." She said. Colonel Sheppard came up to them.

"Actually, it's from both Dr. Weir and myself. I came up with the idea and Elizabeth managed to get it here." He explained. Lannie raised her eyebrows at him as he gave her a quick wink and then went to the door, returning with a large box. Major Lorne came over to see what they had gotten.

"Okay, open it." Sheppard said as he put the box down in front of the couple. Everyone else in the room was watching with interest as to what was inside.

Lannie smiled and pulled at the top to open the box. There was Styrofoam covering something black, and Lannie let Lorne pull the object out of the box.

"You got us a TV?" Lannie asked amazed. Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard shared a smile.

"I know that you can't get any channels here in the Pegasus Galaxy, but it's got a DVD player as well as a Video player in it so you can watch all those movies you have. It's better than watching them on a computer, in my opinion." Sheppard replied.

"Thank you Sir, Ma'am, this is great." Lorne replied. Lannie hugged the both of them quickly. "Yes, thank you so much." Lorne put the TV back in the box and pushed it behind the curtain to the bedroom so it would be out of the way.

"Okay, well, now that everybody's here, let's eat." Lorne said. The group moved to the table and sat down. Lannie and Lorne went into the kitchen to grab the salad, dressing and some bread. They returned to the table and started passing the bowl around. Lannie sank into her seat at the end of the table, and Lorne flashed her a smile from the opposite end. Cadman, sitting next to her on the end of the table, leaned forward.

"You mean to tell me you made something that you have no intention of eating?" She asked her. Lannie laughed. "Yes, Laura. I made a salad. Just because I don't eat it doesn't mean I can't make it. Besides, I told Evan I wanted to learn how to cook, and he said that the two most basic things are boiling water and making a salad. So now I've mastered those, and I can start learning how to make other things. Oh, and I can make mashed potatoes as well. I think they came out really well, I hope you guys will like them." Lannie responded.

"Well, Lannie, the salad looks lovely, and I am sure the rest of the meal will be just as wonderful." Teyla commented. Lannie smiled at her, then looked down the table towards Dr. McKay.

"Oh, and Rodney? The entire meal is citrus free, so you don't have to worry about dying here. Plus Carson is here, so you don't have to worry about anything." Rodney's face flushed as the rest of the group laughed at Lannie's comment.

"Yes, well, thank you for being so considerate." He responded, as he took a bite of his salad.

"Yea, and Rodney, this time I'm not stuck in your head, so there's no reason for you to leave early." Cadman commented. Carson smirked as Rodney once again turned a bright shade of red.

"What is this, make fun of McKay night?" He snipped.

"Relax, Rodney." John chided. "Hey Lorne, why don't you open one of those bottles sitting over there on the counter?" Lorne nodded and stood from the table. "Hey Lannie, where's the corkscrew?" He asked her.

"In the first drawer." She replied.

"Aw, how domestic." Cadman commented, as the group chuckled again. Lannie shot her a look, but still smiled. Lorne quickly found the corkscrew and poured out the wine to everyone. Lannie cautiously cleared her throat and stood up.

"Um, I believe I should take this opportunity to say a few words. First of all, thank you all so much for coming tonight. I know the past few days have been, well, eventful, to say the least, and it's nice to know that we can all at least try to take a step back from all of that to spend, what's the phrase Evan? Oh yes, quality bonding time together." Everyone chuckled slightly at Lannie's comments.

"I guess I also want to thank everyone personally. It's been eight months since I was found, and in that time everyone here has been so kind to me, helping me to integrate and adapt to your cultures and methods. And on top of that you accept my abilities and appreciate them. I am so grateful for that, because you all have made me feel like I'm part of a family here, and I since I have never had a family, I now know what it is like. So thank you, and I hope everyone has a good time tonight."

"Cheers." Colonel Sheppard said, raising his glass. Everyone followed suit, and Lorne winked at Lannie appreciatively. Everyone quickly finished their salads and continued with light conversation as Lorne and Lannie cleared the salad plates and went to get the main course.

"You having a good time?" Lorne asked her as she cut more bread. Lannie smiled at him and gave him a quick kiss.

"I love my brain. This was a good idea. How does the meat look?" Lorne and Lannie had decided on cooking a roast, and the kitchen staff had been more than happy to supply them with one large enough for the dinner.

Lorne kissed her again before replying. "Looks amazing. And your brain is too, Hun. Why don't you put the bread and the potatoes out on the table while I cut the roast. Oh, and put the vegetable mix into a bowl and bring that out too." He said. Lannie nodded and started gathering everything together.

"Hey Lannie, whatever Lorne cooked in there smells delicious. What is it?" Sheppard asked her as she put the bread, vegetables, and potatoes out on the table. Lannie smiled at him. "Roast Beef." She answered.

"Really? How did you guys get all this food here?" Rodney asked.

"We asked the kitchen people nicely. It helps to be friendly to them, they are more than happy to help out. Plus, it was nine less people they had to cook for."

"Okay, here's dinner. And if this goes I still have more back on the counter." Lorne said, carrying out a tray of meat. Everyone murmured their delight at seeing the wonderful meal. Lorne and Lannie sat back down and everyone started passing plates and bowls around the table. Soon everyone was caught up in eating, with small snippets of conversation floating around the table.

"Uh. I cannot eat another bite. I am so full." Rodney said, putting his fork down.

"Well, that's too bad then, Rodney, I guess someone else gets an extra piece of the apple pie I brought for dessert." Carson quipped.

"I meant right now. Didn't I say that? I meant I cannot eat another bite right now. I'm assuming we're going to wait a while before dessert." Rodney sputtered. Lannie laughed.

"Yes, we were going to wait for a while to have dessert Rodney, so there's plenty of time to digest. Let me take your plate for you." Lannie stood and began clearing the table.

"Here, I'll help." Cadman said, also standing. Lannie smiled gratefully at her, and the two girls cleared the table while everyone else made themselves comfortable on the couches and chairs.

"Here, let me take care of the heavy dishes." Lorne said, taking the platter the meat had been on and the potato bowl. The three busied themselves in the kitchen throwing away the garbage and washing the dishes.

"Evan, you should go back out there and entertain. Laura and I can take care of the dishes." Lannie said to him.

"Are you sure? It'll be faster with all three of us." He said.

"It would also be more crowded. Go out there and impress your superiors." Lannie reached her head up and gave Lorne a quick kiss. He smiled and then left the kitchen area. Lannie sighed happily then went back to washing the dishes. Twenty minutes later everyone was still sitting around on in the couch area, joking and talking. Lannie stood at the entrance to the kitchen area, watching everything happily. After a moment, she went back into the kitchen and began putting a pot of coffee on as well as a pan of water for tea. She then pulled the pie out and began cutting slices. Dr. Weir stepped into the kitchen.

"Is there anything I can do, Lannie?" She asked politely. Lannie smiled but shook her head.

"No, I have everything taken care of, but thank you, Dr. Weir. And thank you so much for the TV, you really didn't have to do something like that."

"Well, I know how much you enjoy watching movies, and I agree with John that it's hard to appreciate a movie on a tiny computer screen. And besides, I'm toying with an idea of having a televised announcement system. But don't tell anyone just yet, I'm still working out the details." Dr. Weir responded.

"I think that's a wonderful idea, Dr. Weir. I can review city schematics for you to see if it's possible to create a television networking here if you'd like." Lannie said.

"That would be wonderful, Lannie, thank you." Dr Weir said smiling. With a slight nod, Dr. Weir left the kitchen. Lannie finished cutting up the pie and then started putting them around the table.

"Okay, who wants tea and who wants coffee?" Lannie asked the group. There was a rounding chorus of both words, and Lannie laughed as she made a mental note of who wanted what. Everyone made their way back to the table, complimenting both Carson and the kitchen staff by default for the pie. Lannie carefully carried out a tray with coffee mugs and began passing them out to everyone. Lorne went to get milk and sugar as well, and everyone sat down to finish the meal.

"Well, Lannie, Major, I have to say that this was a wonderful idea, and an equally excellent meal. Who knew you could cook like that, Major?" Dr. Weir said at the end of the evening. Lorne smiled quickly. "You can thank my mom for that, ma'am." He replied.

"Well, we all have to work tomorrow, so I think I'll be the one to start the goodnights. Lannie, Lorne, I had a great time, we should do this more often, etcetera, etcetera." Colonel Sheppard joked. Everyone laughed but also began saying their goodnights as well. Cadman went over to Lannie and gave her a hug.

"Great job, Lannie. This was a lot of fun. Maybe I can convince Carson to host the next get-together. Do you need help with the cleaning up?" She asked. Lannie shook her head.

"No, you go home. There's not much left to do. And we'll see if this continues. But I'm glad you had a good time. I'll see you for lunch tomorrow?"

"Yea, if I can eat. Goodnight." Cadman joked. Carson was waiting for her by the door, and the two linked arms and headed out.

Lannie looked at Lorne once everyone had left and let out a huge sigh. "Ah, I am so tired, but that was so much fun." She said. He came over to her and enveloped her into a huge hug.

"Yes it was. We did well tonight, Lannie. Now let's finish cleaning up so we can go to bed, because I'm really tired." Lannie smiled and kissed him quickly, and the two finished cleaning up their quarters.

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So! Thoughts, comments? I really hope everyone enjoyed it, I'm trying to figure out what I want to do for the next chapter, it'll probably be another filler of sorts before I decide to parallel with Michael. Although I have some really great ideas about that, so stay tuned!


	27. Just an Ordinary Day

Disclaimer: All characters other than Lannie do not belong to me. Neither do any references to pop culture.

A/N: So, this is basically a filler episode until I start writing my chapter that parallels 'Michael.' Little bit of all the characters, and a Lannie/Ronon bonding moment. I figure that he's the type of guy who would respect her and give her sage advice, so it's in there. There's also McKay snark, which I tried to write as best I could. Imagine it as he normally talks, and it works.

I keep playing with how long Lannie has been alive and how long she and Lorne have been dating, so I'm going to make it official here so that I have a permanent reference. Lannie has been alive for a little over eight months, and she and Lorne have been dating currently for five. End of clarification, mostly for my confused mind that has future chapters already mapped out and thus can get easily confused.

Also, there is smut. Insinuated smut, because I'm bashful about writing things like that plus the fact that I don't need to make this an R-rated story. So you all can fill in the blanks, although there's a part where it's obvious. I don't know what's come over me. Another note, I know that I have this theme of going to the Mess Hall to eat. Basically whenever I go to the cafeteria with my friends we end up doing more talking than eating, so it's transferred over to here, so that's the reason why food is important in my stories.

So, I hope you enjoy, please read and review!

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Lannie stood out on the balcony, a cup of Orange juice in her hands. The sun had been up for a few hours now, and Lannie was enjoying the warmth that was reaching her. The balcony door was half open, and Lannie could hear Lorne moving around the kitchen area as he got himself a cup of coffee. Lannie smiled to herself as she heard him whistling. They had been living together for a little over a week, and things couldn't have been better between the two of them. Their housewarming dinner had been a success, with possible plans to have another get-together soon in someone else's quarters.

Lorne walked out onto the balcony with a hot cup of coffee in his hands. "Good morning." He said, kissing the side of Lannie's head. She smiled and continued looking out over the City. Lorne sat down in one of the chairs on the balcony, taking a sip of his coffee.

"You know, if I had any artistic talent I would be taking a picture of you out here right now." He commented. "The sun is making your hair look redder, and it's lighting up your whole face. It's a beautiful sight."

Lannie chuckled. "I'm greeting the day. I have a feeling that it's going to be a busy one, so I'm enjoying the moment while I can." She responded. Lorne nodded knowingly. He knew that normally Lannie would still be in bed right now, but Dr. Weir had scheduled a meeting with all of her senior staff and invited her to join them, so she was up early this morning. Lorne, on the other hand, would be off world for the day assisting with the setup of the new Alpha Site. Lannie moved away from the railing and sat down between Lorne's legs.

"So how long are you gone for today? And are you sure the planet is completely uninhabited?" She asked him. Lorne smiled, he knew that Lannie was worried that he could possibly be kidnapped again.

"The planet is completely uninhabited except for some bugs that are like mosquitoes and other assorted animals. No people other than us. I promise you I am coming home tonight at a decent hour." He said, leaning forward and resting his forehead on hers. Lannie smiled slightly. She knew he would be okay, but she also knew that she had every right to be worried. She sighed and looked at her watch.

"Well, I have to get to that meeting. Should I get a jacket so I look more professional?" Lannie was currently wearing a pair of standard Atlantis Khaki pants and a pink V-neck t-shirt. Lorne laughed as he did an obvious look-over of her.

"I think you look perfect, but if you feel the need to look like the rest of us, then go ahead. It's up to you." He answered. Lannie leaned forward slightly and gave him a quick kiss.

"No jacket. They're lucky I'm wearing regulation pants. Have a safe mission, and I'll see you tonight for dinner. Barbeque chicken in the Mess."

"Mmm, sounds delicious. See you then. Behave today." Lorne replied, kissing her again as she stood up.

"Don't I always?" She grinned at him and left the balcony. Lorne shook his head and looked back out over the ocean. Finishing his coffee, he went back inside and grabbed his vest, jacket, and 9mil. He left their quarters and headed down to the Armory to grab a P-90 and extra clips. Walking into the Gate Room he nodded to his team and then took a quick look up to the Conference Room. The doors were closed, so he nodded to himself then looked over to the Canadian Technician to start the Dialing sequence. The Gate whooshed to life.

"Okay guys, let's go." He stood waiting while two of his team went through first, then the handful of scientists and their equipment. Once everyone was through, Lorne stepped through.

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"Okay everyone, this is just a meeting about what's going on. I just want to know about any interesting projects, or theories, or missions that you guys want to tell me about." Dr. Weir said to the group assembled in front of her. Dr. McKay's eyes lit up as he began going through everything he wanted to say. Dr. Weir gave him a stopping glance as she continued.

"We'll start with Colonel Sheppard, and Dr. McKay will finish because I know he has a lot to discuss. Colonel?"

John smirked at Rodney, who was silently fuming, and then leaned back in his chair to begin.

"Well, currently Major Lorne and his team are on the new Alpha Site with a few scientists and others getting everything set up. Once everything is established we'll have two teams assigned there, with another team on rotation. Other than that, I made a couple switches with teams and personnel on them, but other than that everything's looking good. And I know that when the Daedalus returns they're bringing another two teams, so we'll be all set on the Military front. That's about it." He concluded.

"How are the gun training classes going?" Dr. Weir asked.

"Fairly well. We have the majority of the scientists here trained in basic gun use, and there are a definite few who show a definite knack for them, however there are a few who are just lucky to hold the gun the right way. But I suppose that's what you get, and I know that the few who aren't that great with the guns will be staying mostly here on Atlantis, so there isn't too much of an issue." Sheppard leaned back in his seat as Dr. Weir nodded at his statement.

"Okay, sounds good. Teyla, how is everything on the mainland?" She asked.

Teyla smiled. "Everything is well. The harvest is going well, and there will be plenty of food for everyone. They are thinking about having a celebration for everyone very soon."

"That would be wonderful, please let me know. I think it would be an excellent break for everyone." Dr. Weir smiled. She looked over at Ronon, who was sitting there looking slightly bored.

"Ronon, do you have anything to contribute?" She asked him. Ronon shrugged.

"I'm giving the military guys knife fighting lessons, stuff like that. They seem to like it, so I'll keep them going. That's about it." He said. Weir nodded.

"Well thank you, keep up the good work. Dr. Beckett, how's the Infirmary?" She turned to Carson.

"Well, other than the usual scrapes and bruises, I can safely say that everything is quiet. We still have two Genii left that are still recovering from surgeries, however I think they'll be good to go shortly. Honestly, if it stays nice and quiet, I can focus more on research." He shot a quick look over a Sheppard, who feigned innocence. Dr. Weir leaned forward in her chair.

"What kind of research?" She asked him.

"Well, actually I was going to use some of the Iratus Bug eggs that we still have, sorry Colonel, to work on the retrovirus. Hopefully I'll be able to get it working properly soon." He replied. Sheppard grimaced slightly but didn't say anything. Dr Weir nodded and then turned to Lannie.

"Lannie, that's where you come in. Dr. Beckett would like you to help him with his research. Would you be willing to do that?" She asked her. Lannie shifted in her seat as all eyes turned to her.

"Well, I don't know how much I will be able to assist, I have only read a few science texts, however I can try to help in any way that I can, I suppose." Lannie replied. Carson smiled gratefully at her.

"I'm sure you'll be able to do more than you think, lass. Thank you."

"Excellent. Also, Lannie, I was wondering if you could give us information as to how the City's doing. If everything's running smoothly, if there's any area that needs repair, anything like that." Dr Weir stated. Lannie smiled and quickly closed her eyes.

"There is no threatening damage to the City. There are obviously more areas to explore, but you will get to them in time. Power distribution is good, however every now and then either Dr. McKay or Dr. Zelenka will run some kind of simulation that leaves me with a residual headache." Rodney huffed slightly at Lannie's remark. Lannie continued. "Other than that, the City is happy, although you should continue to search for another ZPM, because having another is always useful." She finished.

Dr. Weir smiled at her. "Thank you Lannie." She said.

"There is one more thing." Lannie said, opening her eyes and looking around the room, resting her sight on Dr. Weir. "I would like to possibly go on more away missions. I know that it is safer here for me, but I wish to see outside of Atlantis. There are many planets that I am aware of, and there are a few that I wish to see. I hope this will be possible."

Dr. Weir sat back in her seat and locked eyes with Colonel Sheppard. The two had a brief silent conversation, then Sheppard responded.

"I'm not comfortable with you going out with anyone other than Major Lorne and myself. If there's ever a mission that doesn't pose any potential threat, we'd be happy to let you go with either one of us. Otherwise I don't think you would be safe." He said.

"Right, and we go on so many calm, uneventful missions." Rodney retorted. "What kind of mission would be safe for her to go on, exactly?"

"Well, Rodney, she could go with us to translate any Ancient ruins that we might find, or to visit a nice quiet village somewhere when we decide to negotiate a friendship. Those kinds of missions." Sheppard responded.

"Well she'll need weapons training." Rodney snipped back at Sheppard.

"I am already trained and quite proficient at using a weapon, although I would never need to, Dr. McKay." Lannie spoke up. "I would be able to sense beforehand whether a mission would be safe or not, and whether a situation could end in any form of violence. I am surprised you are seemingly opposed to my request."

"I'm not as opposed to it as I am… opposed to it. You're an Ancient, and you're connected to the City, so if you go off-world and get injured there's no telling what could happen." He stammered.

"I have been off-world once before, Rodney." Lannie reminded him.

"Yes, to a planet filled with harmless children. That's hardly a mission like the ones we go on." He said, folding his arms across his chest.

"You were the first ones to go there. And it was your fault that their shield was partially broken which led to me going there with Zelenka and Lorne to fix the problem. Or have you been on so many missions that you have forgotten?" Lannie responded coolly. Ronon smirked and Teyla smiled slightly at Lannie's comment. Rodney, on the other hand, got flustered.

"Well, fine, if you want to go on missions, then so be it. I just hope that you realize what you're requesting." He said.

"I know exactly what I am saying Rodney. And I am quite capable of taking care of myself. I am not some innocent child that needs protecting." Rodney snorted.

"You've been alive for what, eight months? That's hardly enough time to have as many life experiences as say myself, or even Colonel Sheppard or Major Lorne."

"Be that as it may, I am still the keeper of the Ancient database, as well as the Voice for the City and an Ancient. Is that not enough life experience for you?" Lannie was starting to get angry, so Dr. Weir quickly intervened.

"Okay everyone, that's enough. Lannie, if there is an easy mission coming up I see no reason why you can't go, and I agree that you should go with either Colonel Sheppard or Major Lorne. Now, I think that's all for now, I have another meeting, so thank you all for the updates." Dr Weir stood and nodded to everyone, leaving Rodney to sputter about not being able to give his own input. Lannie stood and slowly walked out of the door.

"Hey." Ronon came up behind her. "You've got all that frustration bottled up. Use it for something more productive. I'll meet you at your quarters in ten minutes for a run, it'll help." Lannie smiled gratefully at him.

"Sounds good. I'll see you then." Lannie replied. Ronon flashed her a quick smile and then took off. Lannie watched him leave, and with a quick look towards Dr. Weir's office, where she and Colonel Sheppard were having one of their many chats. Lannie smiled bemusedly and then took off to her room to change.

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"You need a break?" Ronon asked Lannie thirty minutes later. The two were running around the catwalks at the top of the City. Lannie nodded, and Ronon slowed to a stop. Lannie slowed down and then began walking around, slowly regaining her breath.

"You know, this is the first time you've gotten ahead of me while we've run. I'm impressed." He said.

"Yes, well," Lannie panted slightly, "I wasn't always ahead. I suppose it's just a good day for me."

"So," Ronon said, leaning against the railing, "You wanna talk about the meeting today?"

Lannie raised her eyebrows at him. "Do we have to?" Ronon shrugged. "You seemed pretty upset, which is a given seeing as how you were fighting with McKay, but if you want to vent or anything…" Lannie walked over to the railing and leaned over it, looking down.

"Sometimes," she began, "Dr. McKay needs to learn how to keep his mouth shut." Ronon smirked at Lannie's comment. "However, I sensed that he was attempting to protect me in some way, so I have to give him credit for attempting to be concerned for my well being. Of course, his approach was typical of him." Lannie looked over at Ronon.

"That's just the way McKay is. Took me a while to get used to him, and I still get annoyed by the things he says. Do what Sheppard told me to do, take everything he says with a grain of salt." Lannie nodded.

"I know, but sometimes he knows how to aggravate me. Oh well. What did you think of the meeting?" She asked him. He shrugged again.

"I don't know why I get asked to those things. I'm not senior staff, but just because I'm on Sheppard's team I have to go to these things."

"I'm sure you don't have to go. But what did you think about some of the things that were said?" Lannie asked him.

"I don't know. I mean I know about what Sheppard is doing with his men, and Teyla has the Athosians comfortable. And we didn't have to hear McKay go on for hours about what he's doing." Ronon replied.

"What about Dr. Beckett's experiments?" Lannie took a sip of a water bottle handed to her by Ronon. He looked out over the top of the City, thinking for a moment.

"Well, I don't really know what he wants to accomplish by making this retrovirus. I think he figures he can make the Wraith human. I have my doubts about the whole thing, but if he wants to work on it, then he's more than welcome to. Are you going to help him?" He looked over at Lannie.

"I might. I have a feeling that all I'll be doing is moving things from test tube to test tube, but if it helps then sure. Although I'm afraid of what might happen once he perfects it. Who knows what ideas it'll give them." Lannie shrugged it off. "Come on, let's finish this run, I don't want to be all gross and smelly when Lorne gets home." Lannie said.

"How come when you're around other people you don't call him by his first name?" Ronon asked as the two began jogging down the catwalk.

"I don't know. You don't call him by his first name, you say 'Major' or Lorne, so it's easier for me to say one of those when I'm talking about him when I'm around military people. Calling him Evan is a lot more personal. I guess that's why. Come on, I'll race you down this stretch." With that, Lannie took off down the walk, with Ronon fast on her heels.

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"Ah, Major, have a good time on the Alpha Site?" Colonel Sheppard entered the Armory to see Lorne dropping off his P-90. The Major turned to Sheppard and shrugged.

"Define good, sir." He quipped. Sheppard chuckled.

"I can imagine. So, off to go find your girl?" He asked. Lorne nodded. "Yes sir. We have a dinner date."

"How sweet. Listen, you know how we all had our little meeting today. I'm sure you know that Lannie asked Dr. Weir to go on more away missions. I said it was okay as long as it was with either you or me leading the team, and Elizabeth was fine with that. But Rodney had a few things to say, and you know Rodney, and even though he was just watching out for Lannie, it came out all wrong, and the two of them got into a little word exchange. I just wanted to give you a heads up incase she's still upset about it." John explained.

"Well, sir, it's McKay. I'm sure Lannie sensed his intentions, so she probably isn't really mad at him. But I'll see what she says tonight if we talk about it. Thanks for the heads up, sir."  
"Don't mention it. Oh, and also be aware that the Athosians want to throw some kind of harvest celebration for everyone, so I'm going to need a few pilots to man the Jumpers to and from the mainland. I don't know when it'll be yet, but just wanted to give you and advanced warning." Sheppard said, and then walked out of the armory. Lorne nodded after his retreating figure, then took off towards his quarters.

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"Lannie, I'm home!" Major Lorne called out when he entered their quarters. He walked into their bedroom and laughed quietly to himself. Lannie was asleep on top of the covers wrapped in her bathrobe with a towel still around her hair. Lorne quickly took off his vest and dropped it in his closed, then went over to the bed and crouched down by Lannie's sleeping face.

"Hey, sleepy head, wake up." He said softly to her. Lannie stirred slightly and opened her eyes. Lorne smiled at her.

"Good evening. Have a nice nap?" He asked. Lannie sat up quickly, putting a hand up to her head to pull the towel off.

"Oh. I fell asleep. Great. Hey Evan, how was your mission?" She asked him, stretching slightly and standing from the bed. Lorne stood up and watched as Lannie went to her closet and quickly pulled on a pair of pants under her robe.

"It was fine. Incredibly boring, but that's typical. How come it looks like you fell asleep after taking a shower?" He asked her. Lannie turned back to him.

"Because I did. Ronon and I went for a long run around the City, and I came back to get cleaned up for when you got back, and I sat down on the bed for two seconds and must have fallen asleep. I'm sorry." She explained.

"Don't be sorry. I'd be exhausted if I went running with Ronon too. Hurry up and finished getting dressed, and then we'll go get dinner and you can tell me about your day." Lorne responded, going over to her and giving her a kiss.

"Okay." Lannie said, blushing slightly. Lorne winked at her and then went out into the living area while Lannie turned to her closet and quickly finished changing into a tank top and button down shirt. Her hair had dried wavy, and so she let it stay that way. Picking up her shoes, she went into the living area and sat down across from Lorne to pull them on.

"Okay, I'm all set. Ready to go?" She asked him.

"Yup. Onward. " He said, putting his arm around her waist as the two headed out of their quarters. The trip to the Mess Hall was quick, and after the two had gotten their meals they found a quiet corner. Lannie immediately began eating, causing Lorne to pause what he was doing.

"Did you not eat lunch today?" He asked her. Lannie paused momentarily, and then looked up sheepishly at him.

"I don't think I did. I went to the meeting, came back, ran with Ronon, showered, and fell asleep."

Lorne sighed. As much as he loved Lannie, he always got frustrated with her when she got so caught up in what she was doing that she forgot to eat.

"Okay. As long as you're eating a good meal now. But you have to remember to eat Lannie. Okay?" He said. Lannie nodded and continued eating. Lorne took a few bites of his food.

"So, how was the meeting?" He asked her. Lannie swallowed the bite she was chewing.

"Okay I guess. Colonel Sheppard is doing this, Dr. Beckett is doing that. But Carson wants me to help him work on the retrovirus, so I might do that. Oh, and I asked Dr. Weir permission to possibly go on more missions. She said yes, as long as I went with either you or Colonel Sheppard." She said.

"Oh yea? That's good to hear." Lorne said. Lannie nodded slowly.

"Yes. Everyone was fine with it. I mean, McKay had something to say, of course, but I think he was just looking after my best interests, as I believe the saying goes." Lannie said.

"Yea, I ran into Sheppard and he mentioned something happened. Everything okay?" Lorne asked her.

"Yea, it was nothing. Rodney just doesn't think before he speaks. I got a little frustrated, but Ronon helped by running with me and talking with me for a bit."

"You mean you had a real conversation with Ronon?" Lorne asked, raising his eyes at her. Lannie laughed.

"You know, he does talk to people. Just because for the most part he chooses to let his actions speak louder does not mean that he can't form his own opinions about things and talk to people about them. We actually talk a lot when we go running. It's nice." She said.

"Yea, I know, I was joking. I've had a few good conversations with him too, he's a decent guy." Lorne replied. "I'm glad you were able to talk to him. Sorry I wasn't here."

"Hey, it's not your fault you have a job that takes you to other planets and a whole other galaxy. I'm just happy that I have someone that I can talk to. Not to hurt your feelings or anything like that, Evan, but sometimes it's nice to talk to people about things first, and then talk to you about them. It gives me a better perspective." Lannie responded. Lorne took her hand from the other side of the table and smiled at her.

"Yea, I know. But for the record I would have much rather been here today than on the Alpha Site. I was practically counting the minutes until I could get back here." Lorne gripped.

"That bad?" Lannie asked. Lorne sighed. "Let's just say that when you get a bunch of Military personnel setting up makeshift shelters and being pestered with questions from the scientists attempting to set up their research and whatnot inside, it can be a very frustrating situation. They definitely started to wear on my nerves."

"Really? That's impressive, seeing as how not even McKay can damage your calm." Lannie joked. Lorne smiled at her and finished his meal. Lannie quickly finished up as well, and the two handed their trays over to a kitchen staffer, and then headed out of the Mess.

"So, what do you want to do tonight?" Lorne asked Lannie when they returned to their quarters. Lannie flopped down and looked lazily around the room.

"Well, we could watch a movie on our brand new TV, or I could read a book and you could write your mission report." She wagged her eyes at him mischievously as he groaned at the thought of writing a report.

"I can do that tomorrow. Sheppard doesn't care as long as he gets it within a week. So I'm good. What movie would you want to watch?" He asked her, flopping down next to her. Lannie leaned over the couch to look at the bookcase that had full shelf of movies on it.

"Well, there are still a few movies that we have yet to see. And there are also a few TV shows that I have that we could watch. There's this one called Firefly…" Lannie began, but was cut off by Lorne pulling her down to land on top of him on the couch.

"Hi." He grinned, catching her very surprised mouth in a kiss. Lannie instantly melted in his arms as he continued to kiss her lazily at first, then with more intensity. Soon Lannie broke the kiss off, breathing heavily.

"I thought you wanted to watch a movie." She chided softly. He chuckled.

"Lannie, when's the last time we've made it through an entire movie without ending up doing what we're doing now?" He asked her. Lannie thought for a moment, then giggled slightly. "It's been a while." She said.

"Exactly." Lorne said, kissing her again. "Why don't we just skip the movie part and continue with this?" Lannie only responded by kissing him again, and the two once more quickly became entangled in each other.

"Lannie?" Lorne whispered two hours later. The two had managed to make it to the bed from the couch, where they now lay.

"Hmm?" Lannie murmured. Lorne smiled at Lannie's almost asleep form. "I love you, Lannie." He whispered, cuddling up close to her and closing his eyes.

"Love you too Evan." Lannie managed before she fell completely asleep.

"Ah, good morning Lannie." Dr. Beckett greeted Lannie as she entered the Infirmary the next morning.

"Good morning Carson. I didn't know when you wanted me to start helping you, so I decided to show up now. Is that alright?" She asked him. Carson smiled and nodded.

"It's fine, Lass. Let me show you where you'll be working." He led her into a small lab room off of the Infirmary. "What I want you to help me with is by transferring different amounts of this sample here in the freezer into different test tubes. You'll be using this micropipette, which isn't too hard to use. I have the different amounts written down here, and the test tubes and racks are all set out for you already. Think you can do this?"

Lannie studied all of the equipment around her and nodded slowly. "It shouldn't be too much of a problem, Carson. Could you show me just one example though so I can be sure?" She asked him.

"Of course. Watch what I'm doing." Carson showed Lannie how to transfer the samples, then left her in the lab. Lannie pulled her mp3 player out of her jacket pocket and put her headphones on, letting the music be a comforting background noise. She quickly pulled a lab coat and gloves on and got to work. As simple as it was, the work was very slow because the measurements had to be exact. She soon got into a rhythm with her task, and the time flew by.

Major Lorne finished his report quickly and sent it to Colonel Sheppard. He leaned back in his chair at the dining table. Lannie had immediately claimed the only desk in the room when they moved in, and since he didn't care either way Lorne wrote his reports while sitting at the table. It reminded him of when he was younger and his mother made him do homework in the kitchen. He had always tried to work as quickly as possible then, and for some reason the same thing happened now. Lorne looked down at his watch. It was about lunchtime, and his stomach confirmed that by rumbling slightly. He stood and stretched slightly. 'I should go find Lannie.' He thought to himself as he left the room and headed for the Infirmary. As he entered, he saw Dr. Beckett talking with one of the nurses.

"Excuse me, Dr. Beckett." Lorne said as the nurse left. "Ah, Major. You must be looking for Lannie. She's in the lab over there." Carson pointed to the small lab where Lannie was working. Lorne smiled gratefully at Carson and then headed over to the lab. He paused in the doorway, smirking at what he was looking at.

Lannie was sitting on a stool, intently taking the different measurements and putting them into the test tubes. She was also singing along softly to the music coming from her mp3 player, not noticing the rest of the world around her. Lorne leaned on the doorway for a moment, watching Lannie work. He chuckled to himself and shook his head as he turned around to walk back into the Infirmary. He stopped outside Carson's office, knocking on the door frame.

"Yes Major? Did you find Lannie?" Carson asked, looking up from his computer.

"Yea, I did, but she looked pretty intent on her work. Can you make sure she gets some food pretty soon?" Lorne asked him. Carson smiled and nodded.

"Of course Lad. I'll make sure she gets back to your quarters at a decent time as well." Carson replied. Lorne smiled gratefully at him and then headed out of the Infirmary. Carson watched Lorne leave, then waved one of his nurses into his office.

"Yes Dr. Beckett?" the nurse asked him.

"Can you go down to the Mess and make a sandwich for Lannie? I believe she prefers peanut butter and jelly." Carson asked the nurse. She nodded quickly and took off towards the Mess. Carson went back to his work, and when the nurse returned a few minutes later he took the tray from her. Standing in the doorway to the Lab, he caught Lannie's attention after a few minutes.

Lannie quickly turned her mp3 player off and smiled at Carson. "Hi Carson. What's that?" She asked, looking at the tray.

"This would be your lunch. Per request of Major Lorne that you eat something. Peanut butter and Jelly, and some potato chips and water, I hope that's alright." Carson replied. Lannie smiled and took the tray.

"Evan was here?" She asked him, placing it on an empty bench and pulling her stool over to it. Carson nodded.

"About a half an hour ago. He didn't want to bother you because you were working, but he asked me to make sure you ate." Carson replied.

"Ah. Well I guess that's sweet of him. I'm going to eat and then get back to work, I'm about halfway through, so it shouldn't be much longer. I have a whole system worked out. I'll let you know when I'm done." Lannie replied. Carson looked like he was going to say something else, but then he changed his mind and smiled at Lannie as he left the lab. Lannie shook her head as she took a bite of her sandwich.

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Three hours later Lannie retuned to her quarters. "Evan, I'm back!" She called to an apparently empty space. Sighing tiredly, she flopped down onto the couch. It was late afternoon, and the setting sun was casting shadows all along the walls opposite of Lannie. Lannie listlessly grabbed a book from off of the coffee table, but soon found it boring. She remembered that she had a DVD still in the television, so she grabbed the remote and turned the TV on. She adjusted herself on the couch so that she was more comfortable as she watched the show, which was something called CSI. Lannie found it interesting that so many people could be murdered in so many different ways, and she was quickly caught up in the episode. Cadman had lent her the DVDs, saying that it was a very popular show back on Earth. The show was just finishing when Major Lorne returned to their quarters.

"Hey Hun, how long have you been here?" He asked leaning over her to give her a kiss. Lannie wriggled away from him, scrunching up her nose.

"You're all sweaty. What have you been up to?" She asked him. He chuckled at straightened up. "Colonel Sheppard caught me and coerced me into helping him with a training session. Let's just say that Ronon ended up showing up as well, and we went on a nice long run all along the East Pier. I'm going to go take a shower. Want to grab dinner when I get out?" He asked her as he went into the bathroom.

"I'm not really hungry right now, but maybe in an hour. Someone delivered my lunch to me per request of a certain Major that I happen to be dating." Lannie called to him. She could hear him laughing in the bathroom.

"Is that right?" He called back to her as he turned on the shower. "I guess this Major you're dating must really care about you and your well-being to do something like that."

"If you say so. I luckily avoided questions from Carson about my diet, Evan, so next time please don't say anything. It's uncomfortable." Lannie responded. She went back to watching the end of her show as Lorne finished showering. He stepped out of the bathroom wearing a towel around his waist and another around his shoulders. Lannie eyed him as he crossed the room, winking at her. She delved into a fit of giggles as he disappeared into the bedroom, emerging a few moments later wearing his typical uniform pants and pulling a blue shirt on over his head.

"Like what you saw?" He teased her, leaning down over her for another kiss. Lannie nodded. "Very much." He smiled at her and then tugged her up from the couch, throwing her over his shoulder. Lannie gasped at his sudden move.

"Evan! What are you doing?" She exclaimed as he started to move back towards the bedroom.

"What does it look like Lannie?" He asked teasingly. Lannie squirmed in his grasp.

"Evan, I thought we were going to dinner." She said.

"Who says we can't go later? The Mess is always open late." He responded.

"But you just got dressed. And took a shower. Please put me down." She begged him. He responded by dropping her onto the bed and hovering over her.

"Doesn't matter, I'm not paying utilities so I can take as many showers as I want. I know you're new to all of this, but hasn't Cadman taught you anything?" He teased, kissing her. Lannie squirmed out of his way.

"Evan." She protested. Lorne shook his head.

"No way. I've barely seen you all day, and I missed you. Protesting will get you nowhere." He stated, and kissed her again. Lannie sighed and gave up, snaking her arms around his neck to pull him closer to her.

They made it to dinner two hours later, sitting in a quiet corner. Lorne was continually amused by Lannie's recounts of the CSI episode she had watched, and had to explain to her that a lot of the time the way the murders were set up wasn't real. They finished their meal and left the Mess hand in hand, and headed towards an outdoor walkway for a stroll.

"You know." Lorne said, breaking the comfortable silence as they walked. "The Athosians are planning some kind of harvest celebration in a few days. You'll get to go to the Mainland again."

"I know. I'm excited to see what it will be like. I can only imagine it will be a lot of fun. Although I'm going to have to beg Colonel Sheppard to not have you flying Jumpers back and forth all night long." She responded. He chuckled.

"I doubt I'll have transport duty other than getting there and coming back when it's all over." They continued on in silence for a while, Lorne's arm now tightly around Lannie's waist.

"You know something else," he said casually, "it'll be six months pretty soon as well."

Lannie looked up at him. "Six months?" She questioned. Lorne paused for a moment, but then realized that Lannie didn't know all of the dating traditions.

"It'll be six months that we've been together. Typically on Earth for couples it's one of those landmark occasions, girls usually get all excited about it. Six months, one year, and then each year after that. It's an anniversary." He explained. Lannie nodded, understanding.

"Does that mean we should be planning something to celebrate?" She asked him. Lorne stopped their walk and turned to her.

"Well, considering that I'm counting on plenty more anniversaries with you, celebrating this one is up to you." He responded. He pulled Lannie closer to him in a hug, and the two stood there together for a while. When they pulled apart Lannie looked up at him.

"I'm sure we can come up with something to do to…commemorate the event." She said. Lorne smirked and kissed her, and then the two continued their walk before heading back to their quarters for the night.

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Awww, yes I know, total fluff. I was just in that kind of mood. I'm going to start working on the 'Michael' chapter next, and hopefully if school/life doesn't get in the way should have it written in a week or two. Please review!


	28. Michael

Disclaimer: Not mine, etcera, etcera.

A/N: SPOILERS FOR MICHAEL. So, once again it took me almost a month to get out this new chapter. However, there is a reason. Does anyone realize how incredibly angsty the episode 'Michael' is? And there are so many underlying ethical issues, so it took a few page re-writes before I could say I was done. So, thank you for all those who have been waiting for this chapter, no more poking needed (OS). Anyway, I really hope everyone likes it, there were so many different things I probably could have done, but this is what came out. The very last part is actual dialogue from the show, I didn't italicize it because I already have a flashback in here in italics. There are also a few other actual lines as well, but you'll know which ones they are. Oh, and there's a reference to the SG-1 episode Enemy Mine, where we first met Lorne. I was inspired both by watching the episode again as well as some discussion on the Forum I'm on. So, I think that's all I need to say, enjoy, and please review, because I really want to know what people think of this chapter.

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"Are you serious? Absolutely not!"

"Lannie, listen. This is the only way we can test it."

"No, it's not. There are other ways. Find one."

"None where we can closely monitor its effectiveness."

"I do NOT condone this! I will not have a Wraith in my City!" Lannie yelled, her face flushed with anger as she stood across the table from Dr. Weir. Around them, the rest of the senior staff sat uncomfortably, watching the two argue. Major Lorne sat beside Lannie, a hand gently on her back to try and calm her. No one in the room had expected such a response from Lannie when they had all sat down for the meeting.

_"So, Dr. Beckett, what news do you have?" Dr. Weir asked him._

_"Well, we've figured out the retrovirus. I can safely say that it works." Beckett replied._

_"So, once again you've made medicine a legitimate science. Nice job Carson." Rodney said. Beckett ignored Rodney's response. _

_"So, where do you want to go from here?" Weir asked him._

_"Well, with your permission, I'd like to test it." He replied cautiously. Colonel Sheppard then leaned forward._

_"My team along with Major Lorne's will go to M42-796, where we know there's going to be a Wraith Cruiser Landing. There's a village by the Gate, which we'll evacuate before the Wraith arrive. We'll capture one and bring them back here where Beckett can test his retrovirus."_

_"Excuse me?" Lannie spoke up incredulously. Dr. Weir gave her a slight look but then went back to Carson._

_"How long do you think the retrovirus will take?" She asked._

_"There's no telling, but my guess is with a daily injection based on the Wraith's height and weight, it could take two weeks or so." He replied. "It's my hope that we can completely eliminate the bug part of the Wraith, leaving the human half."_

_"We're going to make a Wraith human?" Ronon spoke up. Carson nodded, as Ronon shifted in his seat._

_"Can we go back to the fact that you're bringing the Wraith back here into the City to perform your experiment?" Lannie asked again._

_"We have had Wraith here before, Lannie." Dr. Weir responded calmly._

_"Yes, when I was still in stasis. This is different." Lannie replied._

_"I don't see how it is." Weir responded._

_"That's because you're not connected to the City. You won't have to listen to her scream in your head because there is an intruder. Isn't there another place you can do this?" She asked._

_"No, Lannie, this is the way it is going to be." Weir responded firmly. Lannie stood angrily. _

_"Are you serious? Absolutely not!"_

Dr. Weir slowly rose from her seat and locked eyes with Lannie.

"Lannie, I am in charge here. And while I do understand your disproval, we are going ahead with Carson's experiment. You were the one who assisted him in finishing it."

"I didn't know that this would be the outcome! It's a Wraith! Besides the fact that there's going to be one in the City, but you're trying to make it human. It's a WRAITH. They are NOT human." Lannie emphasized.

"Lannie has a point." Ronon spoke again. "No matter whether this retrovirus works or not, it will still be a Wraith. Are you going to let it walk around the City like one of us?"

"We haven't gotten there yet. However, if Carson's experiment is successful, then it's possible." Weir responded.

"No. No way." Lannie spoke again. Dr. Weir turned her attention back to Lannie, her own anger level rising.

"Lannie, that's enough. You're excused." After a brief stare down, Lannie kicked her chair out of the way.

"Fine. But mark my words, no good will come of this. You are messing with something you know nothing about. I will have nothing more to do with any of this." Shooting a harsh look at Lorne, who was already getting up to follow her, Lannie tore out of the Conference Room. Closing his eyes, Lorne sat back down.

"Anyone else?" Weir asked coolly. All eyes turned to Ronon and Telya.

"While I have my reservations, I trust your judgment Dr. Weir." Teyla responded. Ronon just shrugged.

"Fine. I don't like it, but I'll do what needs to be done." He replied. Dr. Weir nodded.

"Alright then. You'll head out tomorrow. Thank you." Weir said to everyone. Everyone stood from the table, and Colonel Sheppard went over to Major Lorne.

"You going to go find her?" He asked. Lorne sighed.

"Honestly, sir, I'm going to leave her alone for a while. I don't need to get into a fight with her, we've been doing really well, plus the fact that I live with her." Sheppard smirked slightly, but then was serious again.

"I just want to make sure that she'll be okay. I know she's not going to like any of this, but I want to make sure that she doesn't do something drastic." Lorne nodded.

"I doubt she'd do something like that. I have a feeling she'll just avoid the Infirmary for a long while." Sheppard nodded and left the room. Lorne sighed heavily and then left as well.

When he returned to his quarters, he wasn't surprised to see that Lannie wasn't there. Seeing as how he didn't have much to do that day, he went around doing a little cleaning through the quarters. Two hours later Lannie hadn't returned.

"Lannie, this is Lorne, where are you?" He radioed her. There was no response.

"Lannie, please sweetheart, let me know you're okay." There was still nothing. Lorne headed out of the room and towards the Control Room.

"Hey, is it okay if I use the life detector for a moment?" He asked the Canadian Tech.

"Yea, sure. What's up?" The tech asked. Lorne stood in front of it and started pushing a few panels.

"I can't get Lannie over the radios, and I was hoping that I could find her life sign here." He responded, searching through all the different levels.

"Do you want me to make a City-wide announcement?" The tech asked. Lorne shook his head as he continued searching.

"No, but thanks. I want to try to find her quietly. She's not in the best of moods right now." The Tech nodded and went back to his work. Lorne sat searching through each level carefully, but couldn't locate her sign, which was slightly different from all the others in the City. Twenty minutes later Lorne sighed in frustration as Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard approached him.

"Something the matter Major?" Dr. Weir asked.

"Yes ma'am. I can't find Lannie. Her life sign isn't being picked up, and I've searched through every part of the City, including the ones with no power." Lorne responded.

"Well, we know she didn't take a Jumper, because I was just in the Bay and they're all accounted for. Are you sure you checked everywhere?" Sheppard asked. Lorne nodded.

"Every single place. I have a feeling she just doesn't want to be found. She won't answer my radio calls either." Lorne said. Colonel Sheppard clicked his own radio on.

"Hey, Lannie, it's Sheppard." He waited for a moment, not hearing anything. Swapping a look with Dr. Weir, he continued. "Your boyfriend's down here in the Control Room going crazy looking for you, so the least you can do is answer me so that he knows you didn't jump off a balcony or something." There was still nothing.

"Look, I know that you're angry with all of us. And I completely understand, but you have to see out side as well. Think of the possibilities if the retrovirus works. We could eliminate all the Wraith in the galaxy by making them human." Sheppard continued.

"And what would that accomplish?" Lannie's voice responded clearly over all of their radios. "They would still know deep down what they are. They would still have their Hive Ships, and would continue to attack worlds. The only difference is they wouldn't suck lives, they would just go and destroy civilizations."

"We don't know that, Lannie. At this moment, we don't know anything, because Carson hasn't done the test yet. Just give this a chance." Dr. Weir said. There was silence for a moment.

"I need a little more time to myself. I'm sorry, Evan, for worrying you. I'll be back soon." Lannie said.

"You promise?" Lorne asked her over the radio.

"Yes. I promise. Lannie out." With a click all their radios lost connection. The three exchanged looks.

"Well, at least we know she's still in Atlantis. Let us know when she returns to your quarters, Major." With that, Dr. Weir turned and went back to her office. Sheppard offered Lorne a half smile before taking off as well. Lorne stood from the console and headed back towards his and Lannie's quarters.

It took another two hours before Lannie returned. Lorne was lying on the couch reading a book when she entered, and he got up immediately and pulled her into a tight hug. Lannie relaxed into his embrace as he held her tightly. After a few minutes, he pulled away from her slightly so that he could look at her.

"You okay?" He asked. Lannie lowered her eyes to the ground and nodded slightly.

"It's just…I can't make them understand. I know why they want to do it, and in a way I'm okay with it, but at the same time they don't know what could happen, and the fact that they're bringing it here to test just makes me very…uneasy." She said glumly. Lorne moved them over to the couch and sat down with an arm around Lannie's shoulders.

"I know, but you really didn't have to argue with Dr. Weir about it in front of everyone." Lorne said to her. Lannie sighed.

"I know. But I don't take back anything I said. This is a mistake. And as long as there is a Wraith here I won't be around it." She replied. "But Evan, I really don't want to talk about this anymore. Can we focus on something else?"

Lorne smiled at her and rubbed her back. "Absolutely. Want to watch a movie?" He asked. Lannie nodded, and Lorne stood from the couch to grab a DVD from the shelf. Turning his radio on quickly, he called to Sheppard.

"Colonel, this is Lorne. Just wanted to let you know that we're in for the night."

"Lannie's back okay?" Sheppard responded. "Yes sir. See you tomorrow." Lorne said.

"Okay Major. We leave a 0800. See you then." With a click, Lorne's radio shut off. He grabbed a movie and returned to the couch, popping the DVD into the player on his way.

"Colonel Sheppard wanted to know when I returned." Lannie stated. Lorne nodded.

"He wanted to make sure you were okay. We couldn't find your life sign today, and we didn't know where you were." He replied.

"Sometimes, it's nice not to be found. I like my alone time, I can sort things out." Lannie responded, shifting on the couch to rest her head comfortably on Lorne's chest. He turned the movie on and wrapped his arms around Lannie protectively.

"Well, tell me the next time you're going to go missing. I like knowing you're safe." With a kiss to the top of her head, the two relaxed as the movie began.

---------------------------------------------------

Early the next morning Major Lorne quietly slipped out of bed, trying not to wake Lannie. He quickly showered and got dressed. He leaned over Lannie's still sleeping form and kissed her forehead before grabbing his Vest and sidearm. He quickly left their quarters and headed to the Armory, where he met his team members to get both P-90s and a few Wraith Stunners. They headed down to the Gate Room, where Colonel Sheppard, Teyla, Ronon, and Dr. McKay were waiting.

"Okay everyone, we just finished evacuating the villagers, since it's the afternoon there. So now we go in, find the target, and capture. Stunners only, and try not to kill him. Major Lorne, you and your guys will cover both us and the Gate, to make sure they don't get off the planet. Ready to go?" Everyone nodded, so Colonel Sheppard turned to look up at the Control Room.

"We're all set." He called out. Dr. Weir stood on the balcony and watched as the Gate came to life and the group stepped through.

"Okay, Lorne, hold the Gate unless we call for you. Let's go get us a Wraith." Colonel Sheppard said once they had arrived on the planet.

"Yes sir." Lorne replied, nodding to his men as they spread out around the area surrounding the Gate. Colonel Sheppard nodded towards Ronon, who had his gun out and ready. Sheppard's team took off into the woods towards where the Wraith group was located. Lorne wandered around in front of the Gate while the rest of his men secured the area. Twenty minutes later, Colonel Sheppard's voice came over the radio.

"Major, we're going to need your assistance. Leave your men to keep an eye on the Gate, we're two clicks southwest from your current position."

"Yes sir, I'm on my way." Lorne responded. Giving a nod to his men, Lorne quietly jogged towards where Colonel Sheppard and his team were, stunner at the ready. A few moments later he arrived and found them hiding in some short bushes, watching a group of three Wraith walking across a large open area adjacent to the village.

"So, what's the plan?" Ronon asked as Lorne knelt down to join them. Colonel Sheppard scanned the area.

"Ronon, Teyla, get over to the other side of the clearing. Wait for my signal once you get there, and then we'll do a quick ambush. You two take out the two Guards while Lorne and I get the main one." He ordered.

"And what about me?" Rodney asked. Sheppard turned to look at his wide-eyed expression.

"You stay here and do recon. Radio us if more show up, or if the Guards wake up and try to attack us." John replied.

"Right. Basically you're saying I'm just here to sit back and shut up." Rodney retorted, then realized what he had said and shut up. Sheppard gave him one more glance, then watched the other side of the clearing from a sign from Ronon and Teyla. He soon saw a rustle in the bushes across the way, and then nodded to Lorne. The two slowly crept to the edge of the clearing, then Colonel Sheppard calmly stepped out from where he was hiding.

"Well, isn't this a nice day for a walk? Too bad there isn't anyone around to snack on." He called to the three Wraith. The lead Wraith whipped around as did the two Guards, both drawing their Stunners. Just as they were about to shoot Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon jumped from the bushes and Stunned them. Major Lorne came up beside Colonel Sheppard and both pointed their Stunners at the Wraith. He snarled and began running for the edge of the woods, but Lorne hit him with a Stun blast. The Wraith fell to his knees, but remained conscious. Sheppard shot him again, and with a shudder the Wraith fell to the ground. Teyla and Ronon, who had been eliminating the two Wraith Guards, joined Sheppard and Lorne around the now unconscious leader.

"Okay, guys, let's get him tied up and back to the Gate. I have a feeling he won't be out for long." Sheppard said to the group. "RODNEY!" He yelled towards the bushes. Dr. McKay quickly showed himself.

"You told me to stay there!" He exclaimed. Sheppard groaned slightly.

"Just get back to the Gate and let them know we're on our way with our new test subject." Sheppard ordered. Rodney began mumbling under his breath but headed in the direction of the Stargate. Lorne and Ronon quickly tied the Wraith's hands together, making sure to remove the self-destruct wristband and any weapons he had. They then hauled him up and began dragging him towards the Gate. When they arrived, Rodney was standing in front of the active Gate with the rest of Lorne's team.

"Okay, let's go. I have a feeling he's waking up." Sheppard said, and the group stepped through the Gate. On the other side were two additional teams armed and waiting just in case. Dr. Beckett was also standing there with Dr. Weir.

"Alright, follow me, I have an isolation room all set up." Carson said, leading them out of the Gate Room. The Wraith suddenly woke up and began struggling against Lorne and Ronon.

"Sir." Lorne called to Sheppard. They were only a few yards away from the Infirmary and the Wraith was beginning to yell.

"Where have you taken me? Release me!" He yelled. Gaining a bit of strength, he managed to throw Lorne against the wall, making Lorne hit his head. Sheppard ran in and grabbed the Wraith's arm as he and Ronon pushed him onto the bed.

"Arggh! You will die for this! Others will come for me! They will destroy you!" The Wraith yelled, thrashing around as Ronon and Sheppard held him down.

"Blah blah blah." Sheppard said, sounding bored.

"They have to find us first." Ronon stated. The Wraith roared again in anger. Dr. Beckett quickly entered as Colonel Sheppard spoke again.

"You're gonna need a name. How does Mike sound?" The Wraith continued to roar as Beckett injected him with a sedative. Gradually he calmed down and they were able to tie him firmly down onto the bed.

"Well, let's make sure he's good and sedated before I begin the procedure." Dr. Beckett said. Ronon and Sheppard nodded, and followed Carson out of the room. Carson walked over to Major Lorne, who was holding a towel to the back of his head.

"How you doin' there, Major?" Sheppard asked him. Lorne groaned slightly.

"I think I'll live, Sir." He said, smiling slightly. Carson removed the towel and began examining the cut.

"Well, lad, I think yer going to need a few stitches there. Let me get some Lydocaine and the stitches and we'll patch you right up." Carson smiled at Lorne and went to go get what he needed. Ronon looked towards the door to the Infirmary.

"Huh. Lannie hasn't shown up to check on you yet." He commented. Lorne shrugged.

"She said that as long as the Wraith's here, she wouldn't come near this place." Sheppard nodded.

"I'm not surprised." He commented, as Carson returned and began to clean and take care of Major Lorne's wound.

Twenty minutes later, Major Lorne tiredly walked into his quarters. Lannie was sitting at her desk, working on something on her laptop. As soon as she saw him, she jumped up from her seat.

"What happened? Are you okay?" She asked, sitting him down in a chair and gently touching his stitched head.

"It's nothing. The, um, Wraith? He managed to shove me against a wall, and I hit my head. Doc Beckett patched it up, the stitches will come out in a few days. It's really nothing." He stammered slightly. Lannie gave him a half smile and carefully kissed the wound.

"There. Maybe that will make it heal faster." Lorne grinned at her and pulled her into his lap.

"Feels much better already." He said, kissing her. "So, want to hear about the rest of my morning?" He asked her. Lannie shook her head and stood up.

"Not particularly. Besides, I have to finish what I'm doing, and you should rest, because I know Carson gave you a painkiller and they normally knock you out for a few hours." Lorne sighed and stood up and headed towards the bedroom.

"No. Go lie down on the couch, you're head will be better there than on a pillow. Plus I can keep an eye on you." Lannie said, sitting down in front of her computer again. Lorne smirked and dropped himself onto the couch, tugging his boots off.

"So what exactly are you working on?" He asked her as he carefully rested his head on the arm of the couch and stretched out. Lannie quickly looked over at him as she continued typing.

"I'm finishing my next letter to Dr. Jackson. They're sending a transmission to Earth tomorrow, and I want to make sure he receives this." She answered.

Lorne chuckled. "Ah, Dr. Jackson. I worked with him once. Nice guy, but a bit neurotic. Although he did end up saving all our butts."

"Well, maybe if you hadn't moved valuable ruins and artifacts, he would have been a lot nicer." Lorne stared at Lannie in amazement, he had never told her the story of his time on the Unas planet. Lannie smirked at him.

"Dr. Jackson still hasn't fully forgiven you for moving those artifacts. When he learned that we were acquainted, he decided to tell me the story. He did however say that you were a decent person despite your lack of respect for history." Lorne chuckled.

"I can't say I'm not surprised. I'll let you finish your letter. Are you writing it in Ancient?" He asked her. Lannie smiled as she continued to type.

"Of course. What better way to keep Dr. Jackson happy?" Lannie laughed. "One of the linguists wrote me a computer program so that when I typed a word in English it came out as Ancient on the computer. Dr. Jackson also has the program now, so he can read what I am writing instead of seeing… gibberish? That is such a funny word to say. But anyway, yes, let me work, you rest. I'll wake you up in a little while." Lannie didn't have to look over at him to know that he had already closed his eyes and was close to being asleep.

Lannie quickly finished her note to Dr. Jackson and sent it to Dr. Weir, asking her to send it along to Earth. She stood and checked on the Major's wound, making sure he wasn't aggravating it from his position, and then turned and went into the bedroom. She changed quickly into her workout clothing and then headed out the door to their quarters and towards the training room. Upon entering, she found it to be empty, so she closed the door with her mind and began to work out.

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An hour later, Lannie was whipping around the Gym, sticks in hand, when the door opened again and Colonel Sheppard and Teyla stepped inside.

"Whoa, Lannie. Nice form." Sheppard commented as Lannie whipped herself around and faced them. She blushed embarrassedly, lowering her sticks.

"Sorry Colonel Sheppard, Teyla. I was just practicing." Teyla smiled.

"You are doing quite well. We should practice together tomorrow, if you would like." Lannie grinned.

"That would be wonderful. I should go, the Major is probably wondering where I am." Lannie said, grabbing her things.

"How's he feeling?" Sheppard asked.

"His head is a little sore, although he won't admit it. He was taking a nap when I left, and he's probably waking up by now. Enjoy your practice."

"Hey, can you let him know I'll drop by later to talk about some team assignments?" Sheppard asked. Lannie nodded and smiled at the both of them and then headed out of the Gym.

When Lannie entered her quarters, she saw that Lorne was still sleeping. Lannie went into the bathroom and turned the shower on. She quickly undressed and showered, letting the hot water wash away all of the sweat she had worked up while she was exercising. Stepping out of the shower ten minutes later, Lannie wrapped her bathrobe around her and left the bathroom. Major Lorne was just waking up, so Lannie sat down beside him.

"Hey you. How are you feeling?" Lannie asked him. Lorne smiled at her and gently touched his head.

"Feeling a little better. How long did I sleep?" He asked.

"About two hours. Are you hungry? Let me get dressed and then we can go to the Mess." Lannie went to stand but Lorne grabbed her arm and pulled her down to him.

"We can get food later. You know, I could do with a little more feeling better." He said slyly. Lannie leaned down, her face hovering above his.

"Or really?" She asked. Lorne nodded, feigning pain. Lannie shook her head bemusedly and leaned in closer to kiss him. Lorne wrapped his arms around Lannie and deepened the kiss. Lannie managed to pull away when Lorne's hands started roaming.

"Evan." She said warningly. "We can't do this."

"Why not?" He asked, trying to pull her back.

"For one, you are injured. Secondly, I just got out of the shower, and I don't want to take another one. Besides, Colonel Sheppard will be stopping by soon to talk." Lorne groaned.

"You're no fun today, you know that?" He said as Lannie stood up from the couch.

"You love me anyway." She said, going into the bedroom to change. Lorne chuckled and slowly sat up from the couch. Lannie soon returned from the bedroom and went back into the bathroom to dry her hair. Lorne stood up from the couch and went into the bedroom to put a new shirt on. He then sauntered over to the doorway to the bathroom to watch Lannie finish getting ready.

"Are we going to dinner?" Lannie asked, brushing her hair out. Lorne nodded. Lannie walked towards him and reached up to kiss him.

"Okay, let's go." She grabbed his hand and the two left their quarters.

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Lannie was once again sitting at her computer when the bell chimed for the door.

"Come in." She called. The door swished open and Colonel Sheppard entered.

"Hey Lannie, how are you?" He asked casually.

"I'm fine. Evan, the Colonel's here." She called out. Lorne emerged from the bedroom where he had been reading.

"Hello Sir." Lorne greeted.

"Major. How's the head?" Sheppard asked. Lorne shrugged. "Feels fine. Lannie said you wanted to talk?"

"Yea, I wanted to discuss assignments for the supervision of our new guest." He said, looking over carefully at Lannie. Lannie said nothing, but instead put her headphones on and started humming softly along to her music. Lorne motioned Sheppard over to the couches, and the two sat down.

"Well, I guess I'm getting the silent treatment." Sheppard commented, looking over at Lannie again. Lorne shrugged.

"She said she wants nothing to do with the Wraith experiment. I'm just glad she stayed here instead of leaving to go somewhere." He said. Sheppard nodded.

"Okay, so we're going to have to shift some security teams around because of this experiment. We've set up a surveillance room right above the isolation room, and he'll be monitored by video cameras twenty-four seven. I just wanted your input on whether to use eight hour or twelve hour personnel surveillance." Sheppard said.

"I think we should do eight hour, but rotate only four teams so that we can have fresh eyes and keep this thing quiet at the same time." Lorne said. Sheppard nodded.

"I agree. The less people seeing what's going on the better. I'd also like you to take a couple of shifts as well."

"You sure Sir?" Lorne asked. Sheppard leaned back on the couch.

"Yes. I can't always be there to keep an eye on things, so I'm going to need you to fill in once in a while. Is that going to be okay with you?" He asked. Lorne looked over at Lannie.

"Yea, I suppose, Sir. Is that all?" Sheppard nodded.

"Yea, we can discuss more later. Beckett's started the treatment, but it'll take a few days to start working. I guess we'll see what happens." The two men stood from the couches.

"Okay, well, rest your head, and I'll see you tomorrow." Lorne nodded.

"Thanks Sir." Lorne replied. Sheppard turned and left the room. Lorne sighed slightly and then went over to where Lannie was still sitting in front of her computer. Lorne bent down and wrapped his arms around Lannie's shoulders, pulling her headphones off as he did so.

"You two done talking?" Lannie asked.

"Yup. What are you doing?" He asked, looking at the computer screen. Lannie shrugged.

"I'm playing a game, listening to music. Nothing extraordinary." Lannie responded. Lorne kissed the side of her head.

"Well, come spend some time with me." Lorne said, letting go of her. Lannie smiled to herself and turned her game off, and then got up from her seat, jumping onto Lorne's unsuspecting back.

"Hey! Watch my head!" He exclaimed, laughing as he hooked his arms under her legs to secure her. Lannie giggled.

"You're fine, Evan. So, what do you want to do?" She asked, getting comfortable.

"I'm going to go sit out on the balcony for a while, it's a nice night. That sound good to you?" He walked them out to the balcony and sat down on one of the chairs, pretending to crush Lannie.

"Evan!" Lannie laughed. Lorne laughed as well as Lannie moved around to relax in front of him. The two sat there for the rest of the evening, talking and enjoying the night.

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As the days went by, Lannie completely avoided the Infirmary, although whenever she saw Dr. Beckett in the hallways she always stopped to talk to him for a minute. She managed to conveniently not attend certain meetings where the progress of the experiment was discussed. When Lorne went back to the Infirmary to get his stitches out, Lannie just wished him luck and went off for a run with Ronon, who she seemed to be spending more time with. She had also started to translate different pieces of text found in the City's computers, which kept her busy.

Two weeks after the experiment began, Major Lorne returned to their quarters looking serious. Lannie was lying on the couch reading a book when he entered.

"Hi." Lannie greeted, raising her eyebrows at him. Lorne sighed and sat down on the edge of the coffee table in front of Lannie.

"Hey. We need to talk." He responded. Lannie marked her page and closed the book, sitting up.

"Okay, what's the matter?" She asked worriedly. Lorne gave her a half smile.

"It's not something terrible, trust me. Lieutenant Kenmore, Michael, woke up." He told her.

"Okay, and who is this Michael?" Lannie asked. Lorne raised his eyebrows at her, while she remembered.

"Oh, the Wraith. Well, that was to be expected. You can't keep him sedated forever." Lannie replied. She looked at Lorne's concerned face. "What? Is there some other problem that I don't know about?" She asked him.

"No, but I wanted to make sure that you knew he was awake. And that he might be leaving the Infirmary. Not today, because Dr. Beckett needs to monitor him some more, but in a few days. I just wanted to tell you in advance, so that you're prepared if you run into him." He replied.

"Well, I won't be running into him, but thank you for the advanced notice. What's your job going to be now?" She asked him, standing from the couch and going to get a drink.

"I don't know yet. I have a feeling that the Colonel will assign him some guards, and we'll keep up the video surveillance, but I don't know what I'll be doing yet. Is that a problem?" He asked, following her into the kitchen area. Lannie didn't look at him as she took a sip of her water.

"I don't know. This whole situation is just uncomfortable. And I don't like talking about it." Lorne sighed at her comment.

"I know, Lannie, but this is the situation, and even though we might not like it we have to go along with it." He took the glass from Lannie hand and turned her around to face him. "But whatever happens, we'll get through it, together. Now as far as I know he's pretty much limited to the Infirmary at the moment, but if he does leave there he'll only be allowed to his quarters and to the Mess Hall and maybe the Gym. And that will be it. But he'll always have guards, so there's nothing to worry about." He tilted Lannie's head up so that their eyes met. Lannie smiled slightly.

"Okay." She said. "Now why don't we change the topic?" She asked. Lorne laughed. "Absolutely." He replied, kissing her.

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Lannie was sitting at her computer two days after the Wraith, rather, Michael now, had woken up. She was looking through her online memos on the Atlantis Intranet. She had a few messages from Lieutenant Cadman about hanging out the next evening, as well as some messages about daily happenings around the City. There was a memo from Dr. Weir addressed to everyone, and so she opened it, not thinking about what it was.

To: All Atlantis Personnel

From: Dr. Elizabeth Weir

As you all know, Dr. Beckett has been testing his retrovirus for the last two weeks. So far the experiment has been a success, and although we are proceeding with extreme caution we are optimistic. It has been decided that we will attempt integration into the community, so here are a few things I would like to inform everyone of.

-The patient's name is Lieutenant Michael Kenmore. He is from Texas, and was captured by the Wraith and then rescued by Colonel Sheppard and his team.

-Please treat him as you would any other person on Atlantis. Treating him differently will only lead to him becoming suspicious and uncomfortable. He believes he is one of us, so please continue that idea.

-Lt. Kenmore is restricted to the following areas: The Infirmary, the Mess Hall, the Gym, Dr. Heightmeyer's office, and his Quarters, which are in a secluded area of the City. He will have at least two guards with him at all times, and his routine should not be changing drastically.

Should anyone have any further questions please ask either myself or Colonel Sheppard, and we will try to answer them for you. Thank you very much.

Lannie sighed to herself. "Evan, have you checked your mail?" She called to him. Lorne exited the bathroom to look over Lannie's shoulder at the message.

"I told you this was going to happen." He said. Lannie turned in her chair to look up at him.

"I just hope everyone treats him normally. We must keep up appearances." She said. Lorne smirked.

"Ah, sarcasm. You're becoming quite fluent in it." Lorne said, going back into the bathroom.

"It's a gift, what can I say?" Lannie called to him, smiling as she returned to her emails.

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Two days later, Lannie and Lorne entered the Gym, laughing and teasing each other. Lannie, however, stopped short when she saw who else was in the room. Teyla and Michael were finishing their session, and Lannie froze up immediately. Lorne sensed Lannie's tension and stood protectively beside her. Teyla noticed the two standing there and motioned for Michael to finish.

"Lannie, Major, I apologize if we have run a bit longer with our session today. We will be leaving momentarily." Lorne smiled at her.

"That's okay, we'll just go over here and stretch." He gently pushed Lannie over to a corner of the room. Michael smiled at the two of them, walking a little closer.

"Major Lorne, correct?" He asked, extending his hand. Lorne took a quick look at Lannie before stepping forward to shake his hand.

"Yes, we've met before, although I hear you don't remember. You started off on my team for a mission before you got assigned to a different team." Lorne lied easily. Releasing the handshake, he gently nudged Lannie forward slightly.

"This is Lannie, my girlfriend." He said. Michael smiled at Lannie.

"It's nice to meet you, Lannie, although I'm sure we've met once before." Lannie was quiet for a moment. "Lannie?" Lorne asked. Lannie shook her head quickly.

"I'm so sorry, I'm being rude. It's good to see you well, Lieutenant. And yes, we have met before, we've crossed paths around the City and I was in the Control Room the day you left for your mission." She smiled at him. Michael nodded. "Yea, some mission that turned out to be. Well it's nice to meet your acquaintance again. I suppose we should leave you two alone, we've taken up enough of your Gym time." He said.

"It's no problem. See you later, Lieutenant, Teyla." Lorne responded, smiling at the both of them. Teyla smiled back and nodded her head slightly, and the two left the Gym. As soon as Michael was gone Lannie let a huge breath out and slumped to the floor. Lorne immediately crouched down next to her.

"You okay? That was a good thing you just did, Lannie." Lorne said, putting a hand on her shoulder. Lannie nodded numbly.

"I just need a moment to process. You start your routine, I'll join in a minute." Lannie managed. Lorne looked at her seriously, then nodded and stood up, moving towards the punching bags. Lannie rested her elbows on her knees and buried her face in her hands, trying to quiet the alarms going off in her head. A few minutes later, with Lorne looking over at her worriedly every few seconds, Lannie stood up and joined Lorne on the mats.

"You good?" He asked. Lannie nodded.

"Yes." Was Lannie's response. Lorne nodded, then grabbed a handheld pad for Lannie to kick. Lannie was soon busy kicking the pad that she forgot about her encounter with Michael.

Two nights later Lannie sat up in bed suddenly with a slight gasp. Lorne woke quickly, propping himself up on his elbows.

"Lannie, what's the matter?" He asked groggily. Lannie closed her eyes, still facing forward.

"He knows." Lannie said. Lorne struggled to sit up more. "Who knows what?" He asked her. Lannie turned her head to look at Lorne seriously.

"Michael. He knows. He found out." She responded. Lorne groaned slightly, and sat up.

"They're probably going to need me." He said, starting to get out of bed. Lannie reached out to stop him.

"No, Colonel Sheppard, Dr. Weir, and Carson are all there. Go back to bed, they don't need you tonight." She told him. "You sure?" He asked, relaxing again. Lannie nodded, and pulled him back down on the bed.

"Go back to sleep Evan, I'm sorry I woke you." She said, lying down. Lorne draped an arm around her as she settled back in. "That's okay. It's better knowing now than tomorrow morning when I go to the Control Room to check in." He responded, kissing the back of Lannie's head. Lorne fell back asleep easily, however Lannie remained awake, listening in on the conversation going on in Michael's quarters. Lannie finally drifted off to sleep as Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard left Michael's quarters, doubling the security.

Lannie was sitting in the Control Room the next morning as the senior staff filed out of the Conference Room. She and the Canadian Technician shared a look before quickly going back to work as Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard walked passed them. Sheppard stopped momentarily, bending down as if he was looking over Lannie's shoulder.

"I'm assuming you've been listening in to everything that's going on." He said quietly. Lannie nodded slightly. Sheppard nodded as well. "Can I trust that you'll keep everything to yourself? We don't need to be spreading fear and panic around the City." Lannie smirked.

"I promise to be discreet, Colonel." She quipped. Sheppard groaned at the reminder of the 'body-snatching' incident, but stood and gently squeezed Lannie's shoulder. "Thank you Lannie." He said, and walked away. Moments later Lannie saw the Colonel and Dr. Weir leave the Control Room, heading most likely to the observation room. Lannie turned back to her work, knowing that she would know what was going on as it happened. Sometimes it was wonderful being an Ancient connected to the City.

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Major Lorne had been off-world most of the day. However, when he returned, tired and slightly dirty, he immediately went back into active mode when he noticed a bit of a commotion around the Control Room. Dr. Weir wasn't in her office, and the Conference Room doors were closed. He saw Lannie sitting at one of the consoles working, so he jogged up the stairs and walked over to her.

"Hey sweetie." He greeted her. Lannie looked up and flashed him a bright smile.

"Hi. You just missed some excitement around here." She informed him. Lorne raised his eyebrows at her.

"Oh really?" He asked. Lannie nodded. "Michael got into a minor altercation with Ronon and then took off. He was cornered in one of the hallways and killed Sergeant Cole. I actually don't think he meant it though. Anyway, Colonel Sheppard managed to stun him before Ronon killed him as well, and now he's unconscious in the Holding cell. They're trying to figure out what to do with him right now." Lannie finished, standing up and following Lorne out of the Control Room as she told him the story.

"Geez, I guess I did miss some action. Is anyone else hurt? It's a shame to lose Cole, he was a good guy." Lorne said as the two stepped into a transporter to head towards the Armory. Lannie nodded in agreement. They stopped at the door of the Armory, as Lorne went in and quickly dropped off his P-90. Lannie leaned on the wall outside and waited for him. He emerged a minute later, and the two began walking towards their quarters.

"So what do you think will happen now?" Lorne asked her as they walked down the stairs. Lannie shrugged.

"Ronon wants him dead, which is no surprise. They're still debating." She answered. The two arrived at their rooms and entered. Lorne started going towards the bathroom but Lannie grabbed his arm.

"You forgot something." She said, winking at him. Lorne smirked and pulled Lannie into a kiss.

"Hi. I missed you. Now let me go shower because I feel grimy, and you can listen in on what they're saying and tell me all about it when I get out, okay?" He said to her, smirking as he went into the bathroom. Lannie smiled as well and flopped onto the couch, continuing to hear the discussion going on in the Conference Room. Once the conversation had ended Lannie went into the bedroom and grabbed a change of clothes for Lorne, leaving them on a stool by the door. She then went over to her computer and began scrolling through the many memos sent to her. Lorne emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later in the clothes Lannie had left him.

"Thanks for the clean clothes, Hun." He said, kissing her cheek. "So what was decided?" He asked her, going into the kitchen area to grab a snack. Lannie turned in her chair to look over at him.

"They're sending him to the Alpha site, and they're going to continue the treatment, but they're increasing the amount he's given. Colonel Sheppard, Teyla, and Ronon are going to accompany Beckett and a few other scientists there, along with two security teams. You get to stay here and relax." She told him. Lorne stood at the counter with his sandwich and nodded.

"Good to know." He said. He quickly finished his sandwich. "Well, I need to go check in with the Colonel and Dr. Weir right now anyway, so I'll act surprised when they tell me everything you just did. I'll be back in a bit." With that, he left their quarters and headed for Dr. Weir's office. When he arrived in the Control Room, he could see people running about loading carts up with supplies, being directed around by both Dr. Beckett and Colonel Sheppard. Dr. Weir was standing on the walkway overlooking the Gate Room, so Lorne approached her there.

"Dr. Weir?" He said. Elizabeth turned her head and smiled at him. "Hello Major. I apologize that I didn't see you when you returned, there's been a little excitement around here." She said. Lorne nodded.

"So I heard. Is there anything you need me to do ma'am?" He asked. Weir shook her head.

"No, but thank you Major. How was your mission?" She asked him. Lorne shrugged.

"Completely routine, ma'am. No issues to report." He responded. Weir smiled.

"Good to know. Go take the rest of the day off, Major, I'll radio you if I need you for anything."

"Yes ma'am." He replied. With a slight nod Lorne turned and went back towards his quarters. Lannie was still sitting at her computer when he returned.

"Well, you were right, of course." He said as he entered. Lannie nodded, still working on her computer.

"He'll be gone in a few moments, and then life can return to normal again, and we can do things that were put on hold." Lannie said. Lorne smirked.

"You mean things like the Athosian celebration and our plans for our six month anniversary?" He asked coyly, standing behind her and gently rubbing her shoulders. Lannie smiled up at him.

"Exactly." She said, reaching up to pull him into a kiss.

------------------------------------

The next day, the senior staff gathered in the Conference Room.

"He had completely transformed back into a Wraith?" Dr. Weir questioned.

"Not completely, but well on his way." Sheppard admitted.

"His reversion occurred at a much more accelerated rate than we anticipated." Beckett said.

"Unfortunately, his memory of what we did to him remained intact." Teyla sighed.

"I shoulda killed him when I had the chance." Ronon interjected, receiving looks from the group. It was Dr. McKay who spoke up next.

"He's right. We are totally screwed. Not only has our dear lieutenant rejoined the Wraith, but he's taken with him the knowledge that Atlantis still exists."

"God knows what type of intel he was able to pick up during his stay." Sheppard said, inwardly regretting giving Michael such freedom.

"They will send another wave of hive ships." Teyla said worriedly.

"Probably already on their way." Ronon pointed out.

"And this time, I'm guessing they're not gonna fall for the whole invisibility trick." McKay was already thinking of other much limited plans for hiding the City.

"We need to come up with a new defense plan." Weir stated, looking to Colonel Sheppard.

"We're gonna need more fire power." The Colonel said, he himself thinking of what they could use.

"You will get your fire power, Colonel. But I suggest that right now your main focus should be to ease the minds of the expedition. Everything will fall into place in time." Lannie stood at the entrance of the Conference Room, with all eyes quickly upon her. "Take care of the people, and they will repay you." With that, she turned and left, leaving everyone in the room to stare at each other with questioning looks as to what Lannie had meant.

-----------------TBC------------------

Thoughts? I would love to hear feedback about how I paralleled the chapter, because this was probably the most difficult I've written so far. So please review!


	29. Dances and Infernos

Disclaimer: Only Lannie is mine.

Author's Note: Okay, so don't hate me, I know it's been like 2 months since I updated. HOWEVER, I have excuses, and most are legit. Anyway, this is the Inferno paralleled chapter, I'm going to try to get started today on the Allies chapter so that I'm all ready when the new episodes premiere in less than 2 weeks! So, I hope everyone thinks it's okay, please review!

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"Lannie! If you don't hurry up we're going to be late!" Major Lorne called, looking at his watch impatiently. He looked into the bedroom, where Lannie was running around frantically getting herself ready. Lorne was relaxing on the couch, but glancing at his watch as the minutes went by. Being a Military man, he had been ready for the last half an hour, but Lannie was a girl, and especially being new to the whole "get ready" situation, it took her a little longer. Finally, Lannie emerged from the bedroom.

"Okay, I'm here. How do I look?" She asked, adjusting her outfit. Lorne smiled and shook his head. Apparently Lannie had discovered a love of shopping, because the last Daedalus trip had delivered her two boxes of clothing. Lorne had a sneaking suspicion that the next trip later in the week would be the same. Lorne was just thankful that she wasn't using his money to do her shopping, General O'Neill back on Earth was covering Lannie's expenses. Because of this, Lannie was now wearing a coral colored dress that fell just below her ankle, and silver heels, her auburn hair pulled half up with little wisps on the sides of her face. Lorne nodded in appreciation. He definitely had one amazing girlfriend.

Lannie finished fidgeting in her dress to look properly at what Lorne was wearing. He had on his typical navy blue dress pants and jacket, but he was wearing a coral button down shirt that matched Lannie's dress. Lannie laughed. "We look alike. Did you plan that?" She asked him as he stood up.

"What? I had no idea what you were wearing." He winked at her and gave her a quick kiss. "Now can we go? We're bordering on the stage past fashionably late." He said, putting an arm around her waist and escorting her out of their quarters.

"And what's after fashionably late?" Lannie asked as they walked to the transporter. Lorne chuckled.

"I don't know, probably just rudely late. This was partially your idea, you know, so you should have at least been there on time."

"I merely said that Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard needed to raise the moral of the people in order to prepare them for what might be coming. I never said anything about a formal social gathering." Lannie declared as the stepped into the Transporter. Apparently Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard had taken Lannie's foretelling after the incident with Michael to heart, as they had organized the evening's event. The entire expedition had been invited to an elaborate semi-formal social, complete with decorations, food and drink provided by the Daedalus on their previous trip. They had planned to bring the food to the Athosian harvest celebration, however this social had more of a use for it.

Lannie took a deep breath as she and Lorne approached the large room where the gathering was. Snippets of conversation drifter through the air, along with the sound of music and the smell of food. The entire Atlantis expedition seemed to be inside, milling around talking to one another, with a few brave souls already dancing. Everyone seemed to be dressed up, per the requirement of the evening. Lorne looked over at Lannie and smiled at her.

"I'm glad they decided to use your selection of music." He commented, as the two stepped into the room. Across the way were large speakers, all hooked up to Lannie's laptop, where her vast musical library was. Lannie had contributed it to the evening, carefully selecting each song and hoping that it would suit the mood.

Lorne's grip around Lannie's waist tightened slightly. He automatically knew she would be overwhelmed, even though she knew everyone already. As adjusted to everything as Lannie was, there were still some things that caught her off guard. He gently guided her around the perimeter of the room, so that she could take everything in and so he could instinctively scope out the room for all exits. He quickly noticed Colonel Sheppard, Dr. McKay, and Dr. Weir over by a table with drinks, so he led Lannie over to them.

"Hello everyone, sorry that we're a little late." He greeted them. Dr. Weir turned and smiled warmly at the two of them, while Sheppard wagged his eyebrows at Lorne.

"Hello Major, Lannie, you look very nice tonight." Dr. Weir greeted. Lannie, who was still staring around the room, turned her head quickly to look at Dr. Weir.

"Thank you. I like your dress as well." She said quickly. "You really did a wonderful job in this room, and I think everyone on Atlantis is here." She said. Dr. Weir smiled. She was wearing a very modest black dress with a string of pearls around her neck. Colonel Sheppard was wearing a pair of Khaki pants, a white shirt, and a navy blazer. Dr. McKay, Lannie noted, was wearing almost the exact same outfit he had worn on his "date" with Dr. Katie Brown.

Lannie was brought back from her thoughts by Lorne, who was gently shaking her. "Lannie, come back to us." He quipped. Lannie smiled embarrassedly. Colonel Sheppard smirked.

"I'm sorry. Colonel, you said something?" She asked, focusing on the Colonel.

"I was just saying that you looked lovely. And that Lorne here matches you, so everyone will know you're together."

"As if they don't already." McKay interjected, between bites of food. Lannie threw him a look.

"Are we really that transparent, Rodney? Gee, we really must work harder to pretend that we're not together. Evan, you're going to have to move out, I guess." Lannie said sarcastically. Lorne chuckled slightly. "But someone took my old room, babe, so I guess I'm just gonna have to sleep on the couch and we'll tell everyone that my quarters are being sprayed for insects." He jokingly replied. Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard laughed at the two, while Rodney huffed and excused himself quickly. Shaking his head, Lorne turned to Lannie.

"Want me to get you something to drink?" He asked. Lannie nodded. Lorne quickly excused himself and moved towards the table as Lannie turned back to the two leaders of Atlantis.

"So, I believe moral will definitely be raised after this evening. I know that Lieutenant Cadman was very excited about the prospect of dressing up for an evening, and the sentiment was shared by many others." Lannie said to them. The two exchanged smiles.

"Well, we figured we needed to do something, and the Athosian celebration isn't for another two weeks, so this worked out nicely." Sheppard replied. Lannie nodded. Everyone did seem to be having a good time. Major Lorne returned and handed Lannie a glass of wine, and then took a sip of his club soda. Sheppard raised his eyebrows at him.

"Not drinking, Major?" He asked. Lorne shook his head.

"You never know when something might happen, and someone has to be sober enough to take care of things, sir." Lorne casually replied. Sheppard smirked.

"How very thoughtful of you, Major. Oh, if you will excuse me." Sheppard looked past Lorne and Lannie to see Teyla and Ronon enter the room, Ronon looking very uncomfortable. Dr. Weir excused herself as well, and Lannie and Lorne walked towards a quiet corner of a balcony off of the main room. Lannie sighed and looked out over the water, sipping her drink slowly. Lorne leaned forward over the railing and looked at her.

"So, you having a good time?" He asked her. Lannie beamed at him. "This is fun. I need to find Laura at some point to say hi. And I might enjoy dancing at some point as well." She waged her eyes at Lorne who blushed slightly but smiled back.

"Maybe." He replied, leaning over and kissing her gently. Lannie smiled and returned the kiss.

"See Carson, I told you this is where all the cool kids go to make out during a party." Laura's teasing voice broke Lannie and Lorne apart, as they turned to see Lieutenant Cadman with a wicked grin on her face and Carson blushing furiously.

"Laura, I was just about to go looking for you." Lannie said calmly. Laura chuckled.

"Sure you were, Lannie. I'm guessing just about meant 'oh in five or so minutes after I finish kissing my boyfriend.' Lucky for me that I found you first." Cadman quipped. Lorne coughed slightly.

"Um, I think I'm going to go inside for a minute, try to find a restroom." Squeezing Lannie's hand quickly, he nodded towards Cadman as he went back inside. Carson finally spoke up as well.

"I think I saw Dr. Weir right inside, I should go say hello. I'll be right back." Carson quickly disappeared, leaving the two girls out on the balcony.

"Well, I got rid of our boyfriends pretty quickly. Oh well. You look really pretty tonight, Lannie." Cadman said, giving her friend a quick hug.

"Thank you. You look very nice as well. Are you enjoying the gathering?" Lannie replied. Laura shrugged.

"Eh, it feels like they're trying too hard to make everyone happy and at ease. But, people are having fun, so it's not so bad. Besides, we get to see how everyone cleans up, which is nice. Although Rodney is wearing the same thing he wore when he went on his date with Katie. I remember arguing with him about what would be appropriate or not."

"Are you surprised?" Lannie asked, as the two girls laughed. They walked back into the room as the song playing changed to something upbeat, and Cadman grabbed Lannie and pulled her onto the dance area.

"Come on, Lannie, Lorne won't mind if I steal you to dance with." Laura called to her over the music. Lannie laughed as she tried to follow Cadman's example.

Lorne stood with a few of the guys he was acquainted with and watched Lannie and Cadman out of the corner of his eye. Lannie looked so happy, trying to keep up with the music and with Cadman, who knew how to dance fairly well. He secretly thought that Lannie was the prettiest girl in the room, but he was slightly biased. The song changed to another upbeat tempo, and he chuckled to himself as Lannie and Cadman started twirling each other around to the music. Letting Lannie have a bit of fun, he turned back to the conversation the guys were caught up in.

Lannie had barely any time to breathe before the next song came on. She briefly wondered how it was possible she had this many songs, but then remembered that other people had contributed music as well. She and Laura twirled around laughing as the song went continued, drawing energy from some unknown place. As she spun around she caught a glimpse of Lorne watching her, and she smiled to herself at how devotedly he looked at her. She was so glad that they hadn't gotten into a fight about the Michael incident, because she knew that they would not be as happy as they were this evening if they had fought. The song quickly changed to a nice, slow number, and she and Cadman stopped dancing to catch their breath.

"Can I cut in?" Lannie smiled as she spun around to see Lorne in front of her. Cadman smirked behind Lannie's back and took off to find Carson without saying a word. Lorne wrapped his arm around Lannie's waist and held her other hand close to him. The two swayed slowly to the music, Lannie leaning her head on Lorne's chest.

"You seemed to have fun dancing with Cadman." Lorne said softly to her. Lannie nodded. "It was a lot of fun. It felt like I had been working out afterwards." She commented. Lorne chuckled. "Yea, keep dancing like that for another hour, I'll have to carry you back to our quarters." He said. Lannie looked up at him with a smirk.

"I might hold you to that, Major." She said. He smiled and leaned his head down to kiss her quickly. He pulled her even closer as they continued making slow circles in their spot on the floor. The song ended, but a classical waltz came on next. Lannie looked up at Lorne and winked, causing him to groan.

"Are you seriously trying to get all the guys to tease me at every possible moment?" He asked her. Lannie smirked.

"And here I am thinking that you're their commanding officer other than Sheppard, so they'd have to hold their tongues. Besides, I think that they'd all be secretly jealous that you can be out here dancing with me and not stepping on my feet. They'd have more respect for you." Lorne smiled and spun Lannie around gracefully and started waltzing with her.

"I suppose you're right." He said, although he could hear a few catcalls from a corner of the room. There were only a few couples on the dance area at the moment, including Dr. Weir and Carson, who were doing a fairly good job together. Lannie could see Cadman talking to Katie Brown and Dr. Heightmeyer out of the corner of her eye. As Lorne spun her around again she could see Colonel Sheppard standing with Teyla and Ronon, smirking slightly at everyone dancing, trying to make his light foot tapping inconspicuous, although Lannie knew he was doing it. Lannie looked back up at Lorne and smiled at him. It was turning out to be a wonderful evening.

"Seriously, do I have to get up? My feet hurt."

"Lannie, it's not my fault you insisted on wearing high heeled shoes all night, instead of taking them off like every other woman there did. Even Cadman took her shoes off."

"But she's still taller than me without them. I would have been so short, and you might have stepped on my feet."

"Lannie, you've walked around the City in flip-flops before. Everyone knows how tall you are, you didn't have to pretend to be taller. And no, I would not have stepped on your feet, I know better."

Lannie groaned and rolled back over in bed. She was over exaggerating the soreness of her feet, they were only a little sore and that would probably go away within a few more minutes, but she really didn't want to get out of bed. Lorne stood over her, hands on his hips and an amused look on his face. Lannie was acting more and more like a girl from Earth every day, and although he liked it, he still sometimes wished she was the nice refined person he had fallen in love with. He leaned over and spoke softly in her ear.

"If you get up, I'll go down to the Mess Hall and get us breakfast. I heard through the grapevine that it's pancakes today."

Lannie turned over to face him. "There aren't any grapevines here on Atlantis, unless you people brought them with you." Lorne laughed at her statement.

"Come on, get up. We both have to work today, we don't get a day off just because there was a party last night." He responded, moving towards the door. Lannie sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed.

"It should be a day off." She grumbled slightly, standing up and walking heavily towards the door. Lorne caught her at the entrance.

"There's my girl. Good morning." He said to her, kissing her on the cheek. Lannie grunted slightly in response and headed into the bathroom. Lorne shook his head bemusedly, and then left their quarters for the Mess Hall to get them some breakfast.

"So, how long are you going to be on this away mission?" Lannie asked between bites of her pancakes. Lorne leaned back from his empty plate and sipped his coffee. "A few hours at most. We're just going to pick up some supplies that we traded for, so it shouldn't be too long. You're working in the Control Room today, right?" he asked. Lannie nodded.

"Yes. I'm hoping for a nice, uneventful day." Lannie responded, sighing slightly as she pushed her plate away from her. "Of course, with you people here now there's never a rusty moment."

"It's never a dull moment, Lannie. But I know what you mean. I wasn't even here on Atlantis yet when I had my first little adventure in the Pegasus Galaxy." Lorne quickly thought back to his arrival on the Daedalus, when the Wraith computer virus had almost sent the ship into a sun. Lannie gave a heavy sigh and pushed herself up and away from the table, grabbing her plate and Lorne's and going into the kitchen to clean them off. Lorne stood as well and brought his coffee mug into the kitchen to clean it.

"I have to finish getting ready, can you finish these?" Lannie asked, going into the bedroom. Lorne shook his head. Lannie always found an excuse to not wash dishes, although she would put them away, because she had a 'system'. Lorne finished cleaning all the dishes and then grabbed his jacket off of the back of his chair. Making sure he had his pistol, he made sure his vest pockets had everything he needed as Lannie reemerged from the bedroom.

"You all ready?" He asked her, looking up quickly. Lannie nodded and grabbed her laptop and a bottle of water, and the two left their quarters. They stopped off at the Armory so that Lorne could grab a P-90, then headed to the Control Room where the rest of Lorne's team was waiting. As they entered, Lorne gave Lannie a quick kiss and they separated, Lannie to her console and Lorne to join his team. The Canadian Technician nodded and smiled at Lannie and then dialed the Gate. Lorne took one more quick look up at Lannie, who flashed him a quick smile, before turning around and following his team through the Gate.

Lannie settled into her seat in the Control Room. Quickly scanning over all the consoles, she made sure that nothing seemed broken or damaged in any way. Even though people did have a good handle on the technology and how it worked, the slightest thing could cause a problem. Lannie took a quick look over at the City-wide life detector. She could clearly find herself among all the other dots; hers was the only yellow amongst the blue. Red would mean that there was an intruder in the City, which there wasn't, thank goodness. Lannie pulled her laptop out of her bag and set it up on her console. Even though she didn't need it to translate anything for her, it was easier for other people to see what she was doing if they had a question. Lannie quickly settled into her work.

"Incoming wormhole!" The Canadian Technician called suddenly, bring Lannie out of her zone. Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard quickly appeared.

"Raise the shield." Dr. Weir said.

"Major Lorne and his team aren't due back for another few hours." Sheppard said, looking at Lannie. She shook her head.

"It's not him. It's someone else. There's a radio transmission." She reported.

"Let's hear it." Dr. Weir said. Lannie quickly pressed a button, and a voice filled the room.

"If anyone can hear this, my name is Doctor Norena Pero. I am from a plant called Taranis, and we request assistance. If anyone is there, please respond."

Lannie sat up straighter when she heard the woman mention Taranis. Her mind automatically told her of the Ancient outpost and the testing being done there, along with some other things of great importance. The Gate shut down then, leaving Colonel Sheppard and Dr. Weir to exchange a look. Simultaneously, they looked down at Lannie. Lannie smiled and shook her head as she turned to face them.

"Yes, I know of it. And yes, it would be beneficial to assist them. And yes, I do know the Gate address. Colonel, you should get your team together, I can give you some basic information about the planet if you'd like."

"That's okay, Lannie, I'm sure we'll figure everything out. I'll go get everyone. We'll be set to go in an hour, tops." Colonel Sheppard stated. Lannie blinked, surprised at the cutoff. Shrugging, she went back to work. If they didn't want to know about the fact that the Gate was in the middle of a volcano, they would just have to find out for themselves. Lannie turned back to her laptop and quickly found the Gate address, putting the dialing system on pause until Colonel Sheppard and his team was ready.

Forty five minutes later, with Dr. McKay grumbling about being taken away from his work, Lannie dialed the Gate to Taranis. She watched as they disappeared through the Event horizon, the Gate shutting down quickly after them. Sighing slightly, she went back to her work.

Major Lorne shook hands with the leader of the village once more, thanking him profusely for the supplies he was bringing back to Atlantis with him. Lorne's team was busy gathering everything together at the base of the Stargate, so that they could easily carry it back with them. Major Lorne finally made it to the DHD and began dialing back into Atlantis.

"Okay guys, let's head home." He said to his team as the Gate activated and he sent his IDC through.

"You're all set to come through, Major." Lannie's voice spoke into his radio. "Are you going to need assistance with the supplies?"

"If there's anyone around, an extra hand or two would be helpful. We'll be there in a moment." Lorne replied casually. Nodding to his men, they pushed the sacks through the Gate, each carrying two over their shoulders.

Lannie called for a few Athosians who were in the City to assist Major Lorne with the supplies. The supplies were mainly for the Athosians, with only a few sacks remaining in the City for everyone else. She watched as the bags were pushed through, followed by Lorne's team with Lorne the last one through. Lannie flashed him a bright smile before performing the quick check of the Gate that was required every time the wormhole disengaged. After making sure the supplies would be taken care of, Lorne bounded up the stairs to the Control Room. He breezed by Lannie, stopping quickly to give her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I'm going to go debrief, then I'll be done. Can you get out of here?" He asked, grinning back at her as he headed into Dr. Weir's office. Lannie blushed and smiled at his public display, which for some reason were becoming more frequent as of late. She looked over at the Canadian Tech, who was grinning at her.

"I got everything else. Take the rest of the day." He told her. Lannie smiled gratefully at him and quickly gathered her things. A few moments later, Lorne left Dr. Weir's office and walked over to Lannie.

"All set?" He asked her. Lannie nodded, and stood from her seat, just as the Gate engaged. Dr. Weir immediately came out of her office.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"Incoming wormhole. Could be Colonel Sheppard's team." The Canadian Tech stated. Lannie nodded.

"It's the Colonel. But, I'm leaving now, so I cannot tell you more. Have a good rest of the day." Lannie said, leaving the Control Room. Lorne smirked and followed after her, turning back quickly to see Colonel Sheppard jogging up the stairs, already calling something to Dr. Weir.

"So, why didn't we stick around to see what was going on?" Lorne asked once they got back to their quarters. Lannie dropped her laptop on her desk and slung her bag on one of the chairs.

"Because, I know what's there. And they don't need us. Yet. So, until they do, we can spend some quality time together." Lannie said, winking at him. Lorne shook his head amused. He shrugged out of his vest, and pulled his jacket off as well. It was a nice day, he didn't need a jacket. Just as he was neatly folding his jacket up, Lannie grabbed one of his arms.

"Come on, we don't have that much time." She said, pulling him towards the door. Lorne quickly tugged her back into him.

"Hold on a minute. Where are we going, and exactly how much time do we have before I have to go back to work?" Lorne asked her. Lannie sighed.

"We're going to the balcony. And we have maybe 3 hours before they need you. So can we get going now?" She asked. Lorne chuckled and gave her a quick kiss.

"Sometimes you act like a little kid, you know that?" He asked her as he slung his arm around her shoulders as they left their quarters.

"Well, seeing as how I never had a childhood, I think its okay that I am excited at times. Besides, I found a baseball, so you can show me this proficiency that you claim to have with the sport." Lannie replied, motioning to her bag she was carrying. Lorne grinned at her.

"I'm sure you just accidentally found it, right?" He quipped as they walked out onto the large balcony. Lannie shrugged, but didn't say anything. She dropped her bag off to a side, pulling the baseball out. Turning back around, she tossed it to Lorne. He caught it easily, tossing it up and down in his hand.

"Well, I can't really teach you how to pitch or anything, because you haven't managed to 'find' gloves. But thanks, Lannie. I forgot to bring one with me when I came here, and I kind of regretted it."

"I know." Lannie responded, walking across the balcony to the railing, leaning over to look at the water below. Lorne tossed the ball once more up in the air, then dropped it onto Lannie's bag and went to join her.

"Everything okay?" He asked, sliding up next to her. Lannie looked over to him and nodded.

"I like it out here. I feel calmer, and everything in my head quiets down a little." She responded. Lorne nodded knowingly. He was constantly amazed at how Lannie could live with so much knowledge in her mind, forcing itself to the surface so often. Lannie sighed and leaned her head on Lorne's arm. Lorne kissed the top of Lannie's head as the two stared out over the water.

"When did you first know you wanted to join the Air Force?" Lannie suddenly asked him. Surprised at the question, Lorne turned his back to the water and looked over at Lannie.

"Um, well my Dad was in the Army, you know that. So everyone kind of figured that one of us kids would join the Military. But I think I chose the Air Force because of my Grandfather." He said. Lannie sat down and rested her head against the railing. Lorne sat down as well, half facing her.

"Was he in the Military too?" Lannie asked. Lorne shook his head.

"No. Grandpa had a bad leg, he had broken it when he was little and it hadn't healed properly, so he couldn't enlist. However, it didn't stop him from learning how to fly airplanes. I was eight when he first took me up for a ride. Mom had just gone into the hospital to have Becka, and I was having what he called the 'big brother blues', so he took me up to take my mind off of having another sibling. I fell in love with flying that day. I got my pilot's license at fifteen with his help, and one thing led to another and I joined the Air Force when I got out of college. I used to teach flying lessons as a summer job when I was in college. So it was natural." Lorne explained. Lannie looked at him, enraptured by his story. Lorne looked over at her and smiled.

"How come you're so interested all of a sudden?" He asked her. Lannie blushed and shrugged.

"I don't know. I just know I never asked you before, so now was as good a time as any." She replied. Lorne nodded and smiled at her.

"Gotcha. So, anything else you want to know about me?" He asked her slyly. Lannie smirked.

"That's all, for now. I have the rest of our lives to find out everything about you." She replied. Lorne smiled at her comment and leaned over to kiss her.

Two hours later, they were still sitting on the Balcony when Lannie sensed the Gate opening. She quickly heard Teyla calling for Doctor Beckett and tell the Technician that there would be refugees arriving soon. Sighing, she turned to Lorne, who had fallen asleep with his arm flung over his eyes.

"Evan." Lannie called out to wake him up. She pulled his arm off of his face in order to get a response.

"Hey, I was using that arm for shade. I don't have sun glasses." He faked complaining. Lannie gave him a half smirk, then stood up, pulling on his hand.

"Come on, they need us. There are refugees incoming in a few moments." She had just finished saying that when both of their radios clicked to life.

"Major Lorne, please respond." The Canadian Technician's voice spoke.

"This is Lorne, what's going on?" Lorne replied as Lannie started gathering up her bag.

"We have incoming refugees from the planet that Colonel Sheppard and Dr. Weir are currently on, and your assistance is needed."

"I'm on my way. Have some of the military personnel on duty start preparing a temporary place for our guests in one of the larger rooms. I'll take care of everything else once I get there. Lorne out." He quickly followed Lannie off the balcony and back into the City.

"I'm going to go put the bag back in our quarters, and then I'll meet you in the Control Room." Lannie said when they entered the Transporter. She quickly pressed the spot for the hallway to their quarters and took off down the hall once the doors opened. Lorne quickly pressed the button for the Control Room Transporter. He entered just as the Gate failed to connect back to the Planet. He approached Dr. Weir and a man who he assumed was the leader of the Taranians.

"Ma'am, what's going on?" He asked her.

"Major, we can't reestablish a wormhole back to Taranis. Dr. Zelenka is contacting the Daedalus to send them to help Colonel Sheppard and his team. In the meantime, we have about fifty refugees that will need to be made comfortable." She responded.

"Already taken care of, ma'am. A few of my guys are already preparing a room for everyone, and I got word that the Infirmary is standing by in case there are any injuries that need to be taken care of."

Dr. Weir nodded gratefully. "Thank you Major. I'd like you to continue to oversee our guests, make sure they're comfortable." Lorne nodded and left the Control Room. As he walked briskly down the hallway, Lannie jogged up to him.

"Where are you going?" She asked, falling into step with him.

"Going to take care of our new guests, and prepare space for more as well. You want to help?" Lannie stopped suddenly, her eyes widening. Lorne stopped and turned back to her.

"Lannie? You okay?" Shaking herself out of her trance, Lannie blinked and looked at Lorne.

"I'll help you. The Daedalus will be able to help, as will the Ship that Colonel Sheppard has discovered. They will be alright." Lannie said, starting to walk again.

"What do you mean? Sheppard found another ship?" Lorne asked. Lannie nodded.

"Yes, one of the Ancient Warships. The Hippaforalkus, to be precise, which was hidden away by the Ancients for safe keeping during the end of the war. Dr. McKay should be able to get it in the air and bring everyone to safety. We need to be prepared to care for all of them, however." They reached the door to the large room that the current group of refugees were located. Entering, Lorne walked over to the Sergeant who was standing by the doorway.

"How is everything?" Lorne asked him.

"Good, sir. We're setting up two more rooms like this, they should be able to hold the rest of the people. The kitchen staff is on its way with water and food. The supplies you brought back this morning will come in handy, sir." He reported.

"Good, glad to see that the trip wasn't for nothing." Lorne replied. He scanned the room quickly. Families were huddled together, all looking a little uneasy but mostly unscathed. Lannie was scanning the room as well, trying to see who needed what when the supplies arrived. She turned to Lorne quickly.

"Is there a medical team on the way? There are some people here with some minor injuries that should be checked out." Lorne nodded. "One's on its way. You know which people need priority?" He asked her. Lannie nodded, just as a team with blankets, water, and food arrived. Lorne stood back and watched as Lannie began directing the team to each family. The medical team also arrived, and Lannie immediately pointed out the Taranians who needed attention. Lorne made sure his team was okay with the situation, then went out into the hallway.

"Dr. Weir?" He radioed.

"Yes Major?" Weir replied.

"Our guests are comfortable, and I have a team preparing another room for the people arriving on the Daedalus."

"That's good to hear. Colonel Caldwell reported that they would be here within the next few hours." Suddenly, Lannie appeared in front of him with a frightening look on her face.

"Understood ma'am. Lorne out." The Major quickly turned his radio off and pulled Lannie further away from the room.

"Lannie, what's wrong?" He asked her. Lannie stared at him blankly.

"Hive ship." She responded dully. She suddenly shivered and shook her head, blinking as she looked back up at him. Lorne looked back at her worriedly, his hands on her shoulders.

"Evan." She breathed. Blinking again, she took a sharp breath.

"There is a Wraith Hive ship, three weeks away from here. It's heading straight for our planet."

It was Lorne's turn to take a sharp breath. "You said three weeks?" He asked her. Lannie nodded. "Okay, then we'll worry about it in a little while. Right now we have to take care of the Taranians. Can you do that?" He asked her. Lannie looked up at him and nodded. Lorne smiled reassuringly at her and gave her a quick kiss. He watched as Lannie disappeared into the room with the Taranians, then he let out a sharp breath. Having the Wraith on the way on top of the excitement of refugees was not a good combination. However, he shook his head quickly and went to go check on the other area where the Taranians would be housed.

"Colonel Sheppard, I just wanted to thank you and your people for assisting us." Norena said as they stood in front of the Stargate. It had taken a week to get all the Taranians settled somewhat comfortably on their new planet, and all the Atlantis people were departing. Major Lorne and Lannie were there as well as Teyla and Ronon. Dr. McKay was busy working on the Orion. Lannie had been thrilled when Chancellor Lycus had agreed to lend them the Ancient Ship as thanks for their help. She had helped with the transition, and was now eager to get aboard the Orion and do what she could.

Lorne looked once more around the area as Colonel Sheppard finished speaking with Norena and Chancellor Lycus. There was no Genii activity in the surrounding planets, and there were no imminent Wraith threats, so the Taranians were safe. Lorne looked over at Lannie. The past week away from Atlantis had been good for her, he thought. She wasn't thinking about the Wraith ship, and she had gotten to go off-world again, which she loved. However, she had needed to go back to Atlantis for a few hours one day because she had felt a little too disconnected from the City. She had returned feeling fine, so Lorne hadn't been too worried.

"Okay folks, we ready to head home?" Colonel Sheppard called towards the Atlantis people. Sheppard nodded towards Lorne and Lannie, who were standing by the DHD. Lannie quickly dialed Atlantis and Lorne sent his IDC through.

"All set to go, Colonel." Lannie called out. Sheppard nodded and waved his hand towards the teams as everyone started walking through the Stargate. Lannie reached for her bag that was lying on the ground, but Lorne grabbed it before she could. Flashing him a bright smile, she headed for the Gate. Lorne followed right behind her and the two stepped back into the City. Lannie took a few steps away before stopping to allow all the City's information to flow back into her mind. Lorne stood next to her, making sure everything was okay. Finally, Lannie opened her eyes and looked at Lorne.

"I'm good, let's go." She said. Lorne smiled and nodded, and the two took off down the hallway towards their quarters.

----------TBC-----------

So, Allies chapter next week, then getting geared up for Season 3! Please review, I need to know if I've lost my talent or if anyone wants anything in particular to happen in future 'filler' chapters.


	30. Important Things Come in Threes

Author's Note: Okay, so it took me 2 months or so (maybe more!) but I FINALLY finished what I think is my biggest chapter. So, for your reading pleasure, is a combination of Allies, No Man's Land, and Misbegotten! The passages in italics are from the show, and there is a LOT more Lorne point of view in this chapter than normal, (including a plan of his that if you've been reading all the chapters of my story you'll know why its an issue) but I figured he was thinking about a lot of things during those episodes. So, I really hope you enjoy it, and I'm working on the next 3 chapters right now as we speak. I even have half of the Sateda chapter finished, however I have to do Irresistable as well as SG-1's Pegasus Project, because I have some really good ideas for that episode. So, please, read, enjoy, and review!

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"No, this isn't right! If you put this in use I will not be responsible for blowing up another part of the Galaxy, including Atlantis!" Rodney McKay yelled at one of his scientists. The scientists turned and walked away quickly, leaving McKay fuming where he stood on the bridge of the Orion. Lannie sat a little ways behind him, working diligently.

"Rodney?" She asked hesitantly. Rodney whipped around.

"Yes?" He asked, exasperated. Lannie smiled weakly at him.

"I finished the calibrations you wanted, and I managed to access more ship operations." She informed him. McKay took a breath and managed to smile at her.

"Thank you Lannie. See, at least SOMEONE around here is doing their job!" He yelled to the rest of the room.

Lannie looked bemusedly back at him. After two weeks of working non-stop on getting the Orion working, she was used to Rodney's behavior. When he and the rest of Colonel Sheppard's team had returned with the Orion, Lannie had begged to help fix the ship. She was given permission, and had been a great asset to getting the ship running again. Of course, ten thousand years of hibernation in a volcano had taken its toll on the ship, but they had to do what they could. The Wraith Hive ship was less than a week away from Atlantis, and the Orion needed to be ready. At the moment, they had the engines running, and the shields were almost functional. Everything else would take a little more time to work on, because they were so old.

Lannie turned back to her panel and began working again. As soon as she had stepped onto the ship she had been able to access most of the systems that were still functional, and with a little searching could at least find the other ones. As the repairs went on, it was easier to access things. She hadn't been back to Atlantis in over a week, because being on the Orion was just like being back on Atlantis, so she was still connected to something with Ancient technology present.

Lannie continued working as McKay yelled at a few more people. Eventually, he returned to where Lannie was working and sat down beside her, sighing loudly. He started looking around the area, but stopped when Lannie handed him a Powerbar.

"Thanks." He said, opening it hungrily. Lannie looked over at him quickly and smiled. Despite his annoying habits, Rodney wasn't that bad, and he and Lannie had a very good working friendship. Just then, Colonel Sheppard and Major Lorne entered the Bridge. Lannie's eyes lit up slightly when she saw the Major. He had been on Atlantis for the last week, and they had only been able to talk via radio. He smiled brightly at her, but then turned his attention to Colonel Sheppard and McKay.

"Well, Rodney, how's everything going?" Sheppard asked. Rodney didn't even bother moving, he just waved his hand around.

"What do you think, Colonel? The Wraith will be on Atlantis's doorstep in less than a week and all we can do is fly around in circles. Or straight lines also. So, we'll really be ready for them when they show up." He replied.  
"Yes, you will be. That's why the Major and I are here. Dr. Weir wants us to try and help you, seeing as how we both have the gene. Maybe we can get this ship going sooner that you think." Sheppard casually replied. Lannie's eyes widened at his comment and she looked over at Lorne. He smiled and nodded slightly at her. She smiled and started to say something, but Rodney spoke up.

"If you've forgotten the whole personal shield incident, let me remind you that I also have the gene, even if it is artificial. And besides, Lannie is an actual Ancient, and she can barely get things working." Lannie gave him a look, to which he turned a slight shade of red and began sputtering.

"Okay, she can make things work, but there's a lot here that is very old, and just doesn't respond anymore. So despite everyone's best efforts, we're just going to have to do it the old fashioned way of replacing things." Rodney responded. Sheppard nodded.

"Okay, well let us go find some rooms to drop our stuff off in, and then we'll get to work. That sound good?" He asked. Rodney nodded and stood up, walking over to a Daedalus crewmember who was working on shields. Sheppard turned to Lorne.

"So, I'll meet you back here in an hour?" He said, raising his eyes slightly at Lorne. Lorne nodded.

"Sounds good, sir." Lorne replied calmly. Sheppard winked at Lannie and took off down the hall of the ship. Lannie quickly grabbed her laptop and ushered Lorne off of the Bridge. As soon as they were out of sight Lorne pulled her into a quick but passionate kiss.

"I cannot believe you convinced Dr. Weir to let you come over here." Lannie said once they separated. Lorne shrugged and smirked slightly as he grabbed his bag that was sitting there.

"Well, someone has to talk Sheppard out of another suicide mission. Plus, if he needs to go back, I get to be in command." He replied as the two resumed walking down the hall.

"Really? That should be fun, should it come to that. My boyfriend gets to command his own warship." Lannie teased. Lorne laughed and wrapped an arm around Lannie's waist.

"So, where's your room?" He asked her. Lannie smirked at him.

"You'll like it, I managed to snag the second in command's quarters for myself. One of the perks of being able to read Ancient and have access to everything in my mind, I know which was the best room to get." Lannie replied.

"What, the Captain's room isn't good?" Lorne asked her. Lannie shrugged.

"Ours has a better view." She replied, turning down a shorter hallway. Lorne chuckled as the two stopped in front of a doorway similar to the doors in Atlantis. Lannie waved her hand over the panel and the doors opened, revealing a fairly large, open room. The bed was against one wall, with a desk and couch against another, and a small alcove for clothing. The bathroom was in another small alcove. Lorne and Lannie entered the room, and Lannie flopped on the bed while Lorne put his bag in the closet area. Turning around, Lorne was over to the bed in less than three steps, pulling Lannie into another kiss as he lay down next to her. After a few minutes, Lannie started giggling and gently pushed Lorne away.

"You only have forty minutes left before you have to go to work." She informed him. Lorne shrugged and kissed her again.

"So?" He asked in between. Lannie pushed him away again.

"There's more time later. Do you want a tour of the ship so that you know what you're going to be repairing?" She asked him. Lorne sighed sarcastically.

"Sure. Give me the ten cent tour." He said, grudgingly getting up, pulling Lannie to her feet as well. Lannie smiled and leaned up to kiss him quickly.

"You'll like the ship. Trust me."

_"Colonel Sheppard, how goes it on your end?" _Dr. Weir asks. The past week has flown by, and now the Wraith are about to arrive.

"Well, we're out of sensor range and all that, but whether or not we're ready to fight is a whole other story." He replied, shifting slightly in the Captain's chair. McKay stood to the side, still working on last minute things.

"Getting this ship up and running in under a month is a miracle." Rodney piped in. Lannie stood in the doorway, listening to the two begin to argue over the radios. She smiled and shook her head at the display. 'Boys and their toys', she thought to herself.

"You know, let's talk about it for a _really _long time, that'll help for sure." Rodney finally snarked.

Sheppard rolled his eyes. "Rodney's doing everything _in_humanly possible to be ready." He finished the discussion.

_"I have a contact." _The Canadian Technician's voice broke out over the radio. Lannie could sense everyone taking a deep breath while they waited for what was to come. After some brief conversation between Dr. Weir and Colonel Caldwell, Sheppard finally spoke up.

"You could be a little more chatty, Elizabeth."

_"I'm sorry, we're just waiting for them to make the next move."_ Dr. Weir replied nervously.

_"Transmitting signal, audio only."_ The Tech spoke up again. The Wraith voice soon overpowered all of the speakers on the Orion.

_"We know you are there. We mean you no harm. Please respond." _As soon as he heard the voice, Colonel Sheppard sat up a little straighter in his chair. Rodney stopped pacing nervously. Lorne walked up behind Lannie then, and put a supportive hand on her shoulder. She had known exactly who it was the moment the ship had arrived.

The voice repeated itself, although this time it called for Dr. Weir. Now Sheppard sat straighter up in his seat.

"Is that who I think it is?" He asked, praying he was wrong.

_"He's addressing me by name. I think it's safe to assume it's Michael_." Dr. Weir replied finally.

A shiver ran down Lannie's spine, as she quickly turned and left the Bridge area. Lorne took one more look towards where Sheppard was listening to Caldwell and Weir talking over the radios, then turned and followed Lannie down the hall.

Lannie entered her small room on the ship and started pacing across it, speaking softly to herself in Ancient. Lorne stood in the doorway, arms crossed against his chest. The last time he had seen Lannie like this was the last time Michael had been around. He stepped inside the door so that they could have some privacy as the door closed, and leaned against the wall. Lorne knew better than to interrupt Lannie right now. Sometimes it was better for her to have an Ancient rant and get over it than him interrupting and the two of them fighting.

A few minutes later, Lannie stopped muttering to herself. She walked over to the bed and collapsed onto it dejectedly. Lorne eased off of the wall and went to sit beside her.

"For the record, I did say no good would come of converting Michael." Lannie spoke up dully. Lorne nodded and wrapped his arms around Lannie. Lannie sighed and leaned into him. Lorne starts gently rubbing her back with one hand, while the two just sit there in the quiet. Sometimes moments like this, even though they have no idea what's to come, are just perfect, Lorne thinks. Finally, both of their radios click to life.

"Major?" Colonel Sheppard's voice crackled to life. Lannie sighed softly, and pulled herself away from Lorne as he responded.

"Yes, sir?" He asked.

"Can you and Lannie report to the Bridge?" Sheppard asked. Lorne looked over at Lannie, who had moved off of the bed and was pulling on one of her favorite jackets as a comfort.

"We'll be there in a minute, sir. Lorne out." Lorne responded. He stood from the bed and met Lannie at the doorway.

"You good?" He asked her. Lannie forced a small smile. "Let's go see what's going on." She replied. Lorne smiled back at her and took her hand as they walked towards the Bridge.

As soon as they entered they were met by Colonel Sheppard and Dr. McKay.

"McKay and I are going to head back to Atlantis in the Jumper that we brought over. You're in charge, Major, but I want you to stay as far away as you can without going out of radio range. And try to hurry the repairs along, I'm going to need those weapons and hyperspace ready as soon as possible. We know its Michael, but we don't know what he wants, so we have to stay on guard. You got it?" Sheppard asked Lorne. Lorne nodded.

"Yes sir. When should I expect to hear from you?" Lorne asked.

"As soon as we know more about what's going on. Although, you could always just ask your girlfriend, she'll know everything before us, if she doesn't already." Sheppard smirked at Lannie, who gave him a half-hearted smile.

"I'll just say this. I will not be returning to Atlantis for some time. And also, Colonel, always have a backup plan." Lannie replied.

"That's why we have the Orion." Sheppard grinned. "We'll let you guys know what's going on as soon as possible. Rodney, let's get back." With that, Sheppard and McKay took off towards the docking bay where the Jumper was. Lorne sighed and looked over at Lannie.

"So, now what?" He asked her. Lannie winked at him.

"Go take command, Major. You have the Bridge. And orders from Sheppard to keep us out of sight. I suggest you do that." Lorne smirked and walked over to the Command Chair. The Bridge was suddenly deserted except for the two of them. Lorne stepped up on the Dais.

"You Ancients sure do have a thing with Chairs." He joked to Lannie. Lannie smiled bemusedly and watched as Lorne turned to sit down. As he relaxed into the Chair, Lannie stepped around the dais to inspect.

"Well?" Lorne teased. Lannie crossed her arms and pretended to be thinking. Finally she grinned.

"You look good up there. It suits you." She replied. Lorne grinned and pulled her up onto the dais and onto his lap. Lannie giggled at the reaction. Lorne moved some stray hairs away from Lannie's face and kissed her gently. The two became engrossed in each other, and no one stepped onto the Bridge for a good half hour.

--------------------

Lannie was sitting at the console in front of Major Lorne when Colonel Sheppard's voice came over the radio.

"Major, this is Sheppard."

"Yes, sir." Lorne answered him.

"I just wanted to give you guys an update on what's going on. We're going to be meeting with a small Wraith delegation, including Michael and the Wraith Queen, to discuss using the retrovirus on other Wraith."

"Where are you meeting with them?" Lannie asked. There was a pause, then Sheppard calmly stated, "They'll be coming here."

Lorne quickly jumped from the Control Chair and put a warning hand on Lannie's shoulder, as she had started to yell into the radio.

"You're letting a WRAITH QUEEN enter the City!" She yelled. She tried to shrug Lorne's grip off, but he just pulled her into a bear hug.

"Lannie." He said quietly to her. Lannie didn't respond.

"You're lucky I'm not there, Colonel, because you would have a bigger enemy to deal with than the Wraith. They had better be guarded at all times, and do NOT let them touch ANYTHING in my City. Do you hear me?" Lannie yelled furiously.

"Lannie, we have security measures already in place. And there's only 3 Wraith coming down here, Michael, the Queen, and one of their scientists. That's all. They're going to be under constant guard and we're going to do checks every fifteen minutes. Don't worry, I'll keep your City safe." Sheppard replied calmly over the radio. "Major, keep up with those repairs, and stay out of sensor range. We'll keep you updated."

"Yes, sir." Lorne replied. The Comms turned off as Lannie sank to the ground.

"Whoa, hey, Lannie, come on, you alright?" Lorne asked worriedly, sitting down next to her.

"This is worse that I thought." Lannie said quietly. Loren sighed and gently kissed the top of her head. Lannie suddenly stood up.

"I need to clear my head." She announced. She looked up into Lorne's worried eyes.

"Evan, I'll be okay. You know how I get when it comes to the Wraith." Lorne gave her a half smile in reply. Lannie reached up and kissed him gently.

"Take care of the ship, I'm going to go lie down in our quarters. You don't have to update me about anything, I'll know." She said, then turned and left the Bridge.

Lorne put his hands on his hips and sighed heavily. He couldn't be angry with Lannie at her reaction, because he knew that she could hear the alarms in her head even out in space. Plus, it was the Wraith, and Lannie knew more about them than anyone, although she never divulged more than what was necessary. Lorne felt that at times it was though Lannie was trying to protect everyone from everything she knew, even though things ended up being revealed in the end anyway. Shrugging to himself, he turned as a few scientists entered the Bridge and approached him with reports about the ship.

Lannie's mind was whirling as she made her way back to her ship quarters. For one, she could sense everything that was going on onboard the Orion, because it was Ancient design and thus she could access controls with her mind, and secondly because of the Wraith delegation that had just touched down in Atlantis. Sighing, she entered her room and lay down on the bed. Leaning over to the small table at the end of the bed, she grabbed her mp3 player and put her headphones on. She started to slowly relax as the music began to softly play into her ears. No matter what happened, it happened for a reason, and Lannie had to accept that.

The next two days passed relatively uneventfully onboard the Orion. However, everyone on board knew that that wasn't the case back in Atlantis, with the Wraith there trying to find a way to use the retrovirus against other Wraith. Lorne had just received word that the first attempt had failed, leaving the 'friendly' Wraith Hive damaged. It was returning to Atlantis while Dr. McKay tried to find another way to make the gas work.

Lorne stepped into his and Lannie's room after a shift on the Bridge. It was evening Atlantis Standard Time, and so Lorne had dismissed all of the scientists for a while, ordering them to eat and rest a while. Lannie had been in the room most of the day, working on things on her computer and ignoring the updates coming through from Atlantis. She currently was in her favorite spot, curled up on the small couch with her laptop on one arm of it, with her headphones on, completely tuned out to the world. Lorne smiled slightly and shook his head. He shrugged out of his jacket, throwing it over into the closet, and walked over to her and gently pushed the computer shut.

"Hey, I was doing something!" Lannie exclaimed, removing an ear bud from one of her ears.

"I saw you save whatever you were doing as soon as I walked in here, so nice try Lannie." Lorne retorted. Lannie blushed slightly, knowing she had been caught. She turned her mp3 player off and put everything on the floor.

"So, how's everything?" She asked him. He shrugged his jacket off and folded it over the back of the couch.

"You really want to know?" He asked her, tilting his head to the side slightly. Lannie shrugged.

"As long as no one has died and nothing has happened to the City, then sure, let me know what's going on." She replied. Lorne shook his head.

"Okay, well, the first attempt to use the retrovirus gas didn't work. The Wraith Ship is slowly heading back to Atlantis because it got damaged, and McKay thinks he can figure out a way to make it work. There are a few tentative plans in place, depending on what happens next." He told her. Lannie stretched out on the couch, throwing her legs across Lorne's.

"Okay, well that's not that bad then, I guess. So what are these plans they have in mind?" Lannie asked him. Lorne cleared his throat slightly uncomfortably.

"Well, one of the ideas isn't theirs. It's mine." He started. Lannie raised her eyes at him. Clearing his throat once more, he looked at her quickly, then looked down at Lannie's legs as he continued.

"If the Orion is needed at any time, and I don't think you being on Atlantis is safe enough, because it might not be, well, I want to keep you safe because I love you, you know that, right?" He looked back into her eyes.

"Evan, I know. And I love you too. So what is it?" Lannie gently prodded. Lorne sighed.

"If we need to help out, I'm dropping you off at M7G-677." He said in one breath. Lannie sat up quickly, tucking her legs underneath her.

"Are you serious?" She asked him quietly. Lorne nodded, rubbing his eyes with his hands. Lannie exhaled sharply.

"Wow. Um, okay, I suppose. But why 677? I mean, of all planets…" Lannie trailed off. Lorne looked back up at her. Ever since they had made up after the incident on M7G-677, they hadn't talked about the planet until now.

"Because they have a shield. And they'll protect you because of who you are. And I know, the whole Keras thing, but I love you and I trust you, and it makes more sense sending you there instead of somewhere else. Don't try to change my mind, because if you start doubting this, well, let's just not go there, okay?" He replied. Lannie leaned forward and kissed him. Lorne instinctively reached up and ran his fingers through her hair as the kiss deepened. Finally, Lannie pulled away. Leaning her forehead against his, she said to him quietly,

"I know you've been thinking about this. And if that's the plan you've come up with, then that's fine. Let's just hope that I can go home first." Lorne smiled and pulled Lannie into a tight hug. After a moment he pulled away and stood, flopping himself onto the bed. He rested one of his arms behind his head as Lannie still sat up, watching him carefully. He smiled quickly at her.

"I need sleep really badly right now. You joining?" He asked her coyly. Lannie smirked but shook her head.

"I need to finish what I was doing. Then maybe I'll join you." She replied, standing from the bed and returning to the couch. Lorne stretched out a little and exhaled heavily, closing his eyes. Lannie took one more long look at him before putting her headphones back in and reopening her computer.

"Evan. Evan. You need to wake up!" Lannie stood over Lorne's half-sleeping form, shaking his shoulder violently. Lorne opened his eyes quickly and half sat up from the bed.

"What's going on?" He asked her. Lannie looked slightly panicked.

"You need to go to the Bridge. Right now. We have a problem." She responded.

"What's wrong with the ship?" He asked sitting straight up and beginning to stand. Lannie shook her head.

"Nothing other that what we already knew was wrong with it. There's a problem with the Hive ship and the Daedalus. And Rodney, Ronon and Sheppard." She replied. "Something's going to go wrong, you need to be alert." By now Lorne had quickly changed his t-shirt and was pulling his jacket on.

"Are you coming?" He asked her. Lannie nodded, grabbing her laptop and quickly following Lorne down the hallway towards the Bridge. As soon as they arrived Lorne jumped into the Command Chair as Lannie sat down in the front of the Navigation control console. Lorne was reaching up to his radio when Dr. Weir's voice filled the Bridge.

"Major Lorne, this is Weir."

"Yes Ma'am?" Lorne replied, giving Lannie a quick look.

"I need you and the Orion to return to Atlantis. We have a slight situation and will need your help."

"Ma'am?" Lorne inquired.

"We detected a computer virus in our computers that disclosed the locations of every planet that we know of, and Our Allied Wraith ship has just jumped into Hyperspace along with another hive ship. We're assuming they're heading to Earth. The Daedalus is also returning here." There was a moment of hesitation over the transmission, then Weir spoke again.

"And Major? Rodney, Ronon, and Colonel Sheppard are all missing. Rodney and Ronon were on the Hive ship, and Colonel Sheppard was engaging some darts in a F-302 and disappeared when the Hive ships went into Hyperspace."

Lorne looked over at Lannie. How could she have known so much of what had happened?

"Yes ma'am. We're on our way back. It might take a day for us to get there, I don't feel comfortable using our Hyperdrive just yet."

"Understood, Major. We will see you then." Dr. Weir ended the transmission. Lorne didn't even have to look to see that Lannie was already setting the course back to Atlantis. Turning his radio on once again, Lorne activated the ship comms.

"This is Major Lorne. We're returning to Atlantis and should be there within a day. We're going to need as many systems active as we can get, so let's get working." He could practically hear the scrambling of all the scientists on board trying to get as much done as they could in the day that they had left. Lorne stood from the Command chair and went down to where Lannie sat. Resting his hands on the back of her seat, he looked out into space, watching the stars and planets go by.

"So I guess your plan won't happen now." Lannie said quietly, looking up into Lorne's eyes after making sure the Orion was on the right course. Lorne looked back into Lannie's eyes.

"Guess so." He said quietly. The two continued staring at each other for another moment, but then a group of Scientists entered the Bridge, and Lorne pulled back. Lannie stood from her chair and stifled a yawn. Lorne raised an eyebrow at her.

"When was the last time you slept?" He asked her. "And I mean a full night's sleep, because I know you haven't been sleeping." Lannie frowned.

"I slept last night." She responded. Lorne shook his head.

"I heard you get up in the middle of the night. Go get some sleep, I'll wake you up when we're back at Atlantis. And don't make me carry you to our room, because I will." Lorne warned. Lannie winked at him mischievously.

"Will you?" Lorne smirked and shook his head, gently pushing Lannie towards the door, quickly giving her a kiss. "Go. I'll see you in a little while." Lannie sighed dramatically, but left the Bridge and headed for their room. Lorne was right, Lannie hadn't been sleeping well, so hopefully she could get some rest now.

--------------------

"Major Lorne, we just entered Orbit with the planet." A tech called to Lorne, who was over by a console with another tech.

"Thank you. Open a channel to Atlantis." He responded.

"Atlantis, this is Lorne. We're back and ready to help with whatever we can."

"Major, this is Caldwell. Dr. Weir has been recalled to Earth, however we are to remain on standby. She wants us to go after the Hive ships and destroy them while they are pausing their hyperspace trip. Teyla will be dialing Earth within the next hour to see what Dr. Weir's decision is."

"Understood sir. We could use some extra hands, if that's possible." Lorne replied.

"Major, this is Teyla. Dr. Zelenka as well as a few others are on their way up in a Jumper to provide assistance. Is there anything else you will need?"

"Can the Jumper make a round trip?" Lorne asked her.

"What do you mean, Major?" Teyla asked.

"I don't want Lannie here, so when the Jumper gets here, we'll turn it back around with her and whoever else wants off. Is that alright?" He replied.

"Of course." Teyla responded.

"I agree. Anyone non-essential to the repairs of the Orion need to be off the ship in case anything should happen." Caldwell replied.

"Yes sir. We'll be waiting for Zelenka's arrival. Lorne out." He quickly turned and left the Bridge, hurrying to his room. Entering quickly, he saw that Lannie was still asleep on the bed, her headphones on. Lorne bent down and turned the mp3 player off, gently taking the ear buds out of Lannie's ears.

"Lannie, sweetheart, wake up." He said, gently, shaking her shoulder. Lannie groaned slightly and opened one eye.

"Come on, Hun, wake up. We're at Atlantis." Lannie shifted slightly and opened both eyes.

"We're here?" She asked. Lorne nodded.

"Yea. You gotta get your stuff together, Zelenka and some others are on their way up in a Jumper and you're going back down when they get here. I'll help you get your stuff, where's your duffel bag?" He asked her. Lannie sat up and pointed to the small closet.

"On the shelf. Am I the only one going back to Atlantis?" She asked him. Lorne shook his head as he began packing some of Lannie's things.

"No, I think there are a few Scientists going back as well. Oh, and just to let you know, Dr. Weir got recalled back to Earth, so Teyla is in charge. Maybe you can help her out when you get back, I'm sure she'd appreciate it." Lannie was up by now, putting her laptop and other accessories away in her other bag.

"Of course. Here, let me finish packing. I have to make sure I don't forget anything. Do you want me to take some of your stuff as well?" She asked him.

"I didn't bring much, but you can take my laptop and some other things back if you want." Lorne replied, grabbing his own duffel bag and quickly filling it.

"Major, the Jumper has just landed in the Bay." One of the Techs called him over the radio.

"Understood. Alert anyone else who wants to go back to Atlantis that the Jumper will be leaving in twenty minutes, so they should get their things." Lorne replied.

"Yes sir." Was the reply.

"Doctor Zelenka?" Lorne called over the radio.

"Yes Major?" Zelenka responded.

"You have a lot of work ahead of you, the best place for you to get started is the Bridge if you want. I'll meet you there once the Jumper leaves, is that alright?" Lorne asked.

"Of course, Major. I will see you then." The radio clicked off. Lorne turned around to see Lannie zipping her bag closed, and the room looking very bare.

"Ok, I think I have everything." She said, biting her lip slightly as she looked at Lorne. Lorne tried to smile at her, but instead she grabbed him by his jacket and pulled him to her, capturing his lips in a desperate kiss. Lorne pulled Lannie to him tightly, deepening the kiss until both were breathless. He leaned his head down to rest his forehead against hers.

"Please be safe?" Lannie whispered to him. "I need you to come back to me. Alive. Preferably not seriously injured. Can you do that?"

"I'll try my best, but I don't know what might happen. Lannie, look at me." Lannie pulled her head back slightly to look at his face better.

"I love you." He said quietly, gently caressing her cheek with his hand. Lannie smiled back at him.

"I love you too, Evan." She replied, reaching up to kiss him again. Finally, albeit reluctantly, Lorne broke the kiss with Lannie. Entwining his fingers with hers, he grabbed her bag with his free hand and led her out of their room. Lannie leaned into Lorne's side, trying to hold onto him a long as possible. Uneasy thoughts swirled in her head, and as much as she tried to force them out they stayed in the back of her mind. They reached the docking bay to see a few scientists boarding the Jumper. Lorne stepped inside with Lannie and walked to the front of the ship.

"Sir." The Marine piloting the ship acknowledged Lorne's presence. Lorne nodded to him in reply.

"Sir, if it's possible, I would like to stay here on the Orion to assist if needed." The Marine spoke up, standing slightly from his seat. Lorne frowned slightly. He was hoping to get Lannie back to Atlantis safely and without incident. Lannie gently tugged on his arm.

"Evan, you might need him. I'll pilot the Jumper home, you don't have to worry." Lorne smiled briefly at her.

"Okay. Let's get you back to Atlantis, we're going to be hearing from Weir soon so you need to be out of orbit in case we have to jump into hyperspace." The Marine quickly got out of his seat as Lannie set her bag down next to her and made herself comfortable in front of the controls. Lorne rested an arm on the back of the seat and leaned himself closer to Lannie.

"You going to be alright?" He asked her. Lannie nodded.

"I love flying, I'll be okay. Can you make sure I have everyone so that we can get out of here?" Lorne nodded, then quickly turned Lannie's face to his and kissed her gently.

"I'll see you soon, okay?" He asked her. Lannie nodded. "I'm holding you to that, Evan. I love you."

"Love you too, Lannie." Lorne replied, as he turned and left the Jumper. After making sure that the four other passengers were settled, he stepped back and watched as the Jumper hatch closed and the ship rose slowly from the ground. Making sure it left the bay without incident, Lorne quickly turned and jogged back to the Bridge.

"Zelenka, what's our status?" He asked the Scientist. Zelenka adjusted his glasses, then looked at Lorne.

"We can get it to fly in Hyperspace. Other than that, I do not know. Maybe weapons, shields are not likely." He responded.

"Well, see what you can do. I have a feeling we're going to need everything we have." Lorne hopped up onto the dais and sat down in the Command Chair.

"Major Lorne, this is Atlantis. Jumper three just landed in the Bay." The voice of the Tech sounded in Lorne's ear.

"Understood." Lorne replied. He sighed slightly, grateful that Lannie was out of harm's way. He silently surveyed the room. There were scientists at every console, with Zelenka calling out orders in both English and Czech. Whatever was going to happen, they were certainly going to try to be ready for it.

"We're going to need to get in position to jump into Hyperspace." Lorne commented to Zelenka.

"I'll see what I can do." He replied, barking orders to the scientist at the navigation console. Slowly, the ship started moving, giving Lorne a view of the Daedalus in orbit ahead of them.

_"Major Lorne, we're approaching our T-Zero." _Colonel Caldwell's voice came over the radio.

_"Zelenka says she'll fly, sir, but,"_ he took a look around the area, _"as of know, that's about all she can do." _

_"You'll have thirteen hours en route to get your weapons and shields online, but we need to leave right now to make this window." _Caldwell replied. _"Are you go or no go?"_

Lorne paused for a moment. Finally, he responded. _"We're go, sir."_

_"Very well."_ Caldwell replied. The comm. Clicked off, and Lorne turned slightly to look at Zelenka.

"Ok Dr. Z, get us into Hyperspace. Then you have thirteen hours to finish getting everything together. Is that enough?" He asked.

"It will have to be." Zelenka responded, then nodded to a Tech who opened the Hyperspace window. Within seconds the ship was flying through the bright white and blue that was hyperspace. Lorne sank back in his chair. He stared out at the space, wondering what would be happening to them in thirteen hours.

Lannie landed the Jumper perfectly, and opened the rear hatch to allow everyone off. She grabbed her two bags and instead of heading towards her quarters, she took off towards the Control Room. Teyla was sitting next to the Canadian Tech, and Lannie approached them both.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" She asked them. Teyla looked up and smiled at her.

"Welcome back, Lannie. I'm afraid there isn't anything you can do at the moment, but thank you." Lannie bowed her head slightly towards Teyla.

"How long will it take for them to get to the Hive ships?" Lannie asked.

"About thirteen hours." The tech replied. Lannie nodded.

"Good to know. I'm going to go get resettled in my room. Please let me know if you need anything at all."

"Of course, Lannie, thank you." Teyla replied, and Lannie turned and left the Control Room.

A few moments later the doors to her quarters slid open and Lannie stepped inside. Everything was pretty much as she had left it a few weeks ago when she had first gone to the Orion. Tossing her bag of clothing onto the couch, she pulled her laptop out from her other bag and set it up on her desk. As it turned on, she went into the kitchen area and got a glass of water. She sat back down and began looking through all the memos that had been sent to her in the time she was gone. She needed to do everything she could to take her mind off the next thirteen or so hours.

They were approaching the 1300-mark. Lorne shifted slightly in the Command Chair. In the thirteen hours he had left the seat twice, and now was antsy for whatever was going to happen.

"We're about to drop out of hyperspace." Zelenka announced.

"Do we have shields?" Lorne asked.

"They are at about seventy-five percent, and holding. That is the best I can do." Zelenka replied. Lorne bit his lip, an annoying habit he was starting to pick up from Lannie, and nodded.

"Raise the shields as soon as we get out of Hyperspace." Lorne ordered. Within moments, the blue of hyperspace had been replaced with the normal black of space, however mixed in was the Daedalus firing weapons, Darts flying everywhere, and two Hive ships, one taking heavy fire from the Daedalus.

"Fire our drones at the other Hive." Lorne ordered, as the hive turned towards them. Zelenka started muttering in Czech, and Lorne had a feeling he wasn't saying anything too nice.

_"Major Lorne, now would be a good time to open fire."_ Caldwell's voice sounded over the comms.

_"Yes, sir, I was just thinkin' the same thing. I gave the order but nothing happened. Zelenka!" _Lorne yelled to him over noises of the Hive ships weapons.

_"I'm trying!"_ Zelenka responded, saying something in Czech that Lorne definitely knew was a swear. Lorne sighed, knowing what was going on.

_"We're having a little difficulty transferring power from shields to weapons." _Lorne said to Caldwell.

_"There's a Hive bearing down on your position." _Caldwell replied.

_"Yes, sir, I see that. Stand by." _Lorne sighed in frustration, and jumped out of the Command chair. He needed to be doing something, not just sitting there.

_"Doc, you're killing us here." _He said to Zelenka. Zelenka waved his hands around but replied.

_"OK, I have it. I have it. I have it." _He replied, relieved. Lorne reached over and pressed the control.

_"Firing Drones!"_ He yelled, knowing Caldwell was listening. Lorne and Zelenka watched in half awe as the drones left the Orion and flew straight to the Hive ship. As soon as the drones hit the Hive, the Orion was rocked by a blast from the other Hive.

"We lost shields!" Zelenka yelled, regaining his balance after being tussled from the attack.

"Fire on the other ship!" Lorne ordered, pressing the button again. Nothing happened, much to his chagrin.

"I cannot!" Zelenka replied. Both braced themselves as another shot hit the Orion, consoles around them exploding into a rain of gold sparks.

_"One more shot, Zelenka, that's all I'm asking!"_ Lorne was practically begging the Doctor. All he could think about was how Lannie had begged him not to die. He wasn't going down without a fight.

"_I just cannot give you what I don't have!_" Zelenka cried. He ran to another console, looking at the readout. _"There's too much damage! We need to abandon ship!"_ Zelenka turned and began running off the Bridge, but Lorne grabbed his arm and tried to haul him back.

"_Hey, Doc! Listen to me!"_ Lorne ordered. The last thing he needed right now was Zelenka going into a panic. Zelenka tugged himself free from Lorne's grip and kept going towards the door.

"_We sacrificed our shield capability for our first salvo! This ship is going to blow any moment, Major!" _Lorne's eyes widened as Zelenka said that and looked around the exploding Bridge. Everything they had worked for on the ship was going to have been for nothing. He knew that if he saw Sheppard again he would have to hear about how he let the Orion be destroyed on its maiden rescue. He quickly activated his comm.

"_Colonel Caldwell. I'm afraid we've done everything we can on our end. Request immediate beam-out to Daedalus." _He practically held his breath as the beam light surrounded him and Zelenka, bring them to the Daedalus immediately.

"You okay, Zelenka?" Lorne asked.

"Yes, I am fine." Zelenka responded, his voice shaky. Lorne nodded.

"I'm heading to the Bridge." With that, he began running to the Bridge as best he could, despite the heavy fire the Daedalus was taking. It took him a few minutes, but he finally arrived, grabbing onto the back of the Command chairs to brace himself.

"_Sorry, sir, we did our best."_ Lorne apologized to the Colonel. He couldn't bear to look out the window to see the Orion's remains floating around in space.

"_Nothing to apologize for, Major."_ Caldwell replied. Turning back to his crew, he started calling out orders to everyone.

"_I have a contact, sir. A single Wraith ship, possibly a transport. It just left the hive and is on a course for us. It's broadcasting a comm. on our frequencies." _Kleinman, the helmsman, spoke up suddenly. Both Lorne's and Caldwell's eyes widened.

"_What the hell do they want?" _Caldwell wondered out loud.

"_Maybe they want to surrender."_ Zelenka, who had arrived on the Bridge right after Lorne spoke up.

"_Not likely. Let's hear it."_ Caldwell determined. Everyone paused slightly as they waited to hear the message.

"_This is Colonel John Sheppard. Authentication code Alpha Seven Tango Three. Please respond."_ The sound of Sheppard's voice caused everyone on the Bridge to let out a collective breath.

"_Open a channel."_ Caldwell told Kleinman. _"Colonel Sheppard. We'd written you off." _He spoke to Sheppard.

"_Don't get all emotional on me now! Look, I've got McKay, Ronon and Michael aboard a Wraith transport." _Sheppard quipped. Eyebrows shot up at the mention of Michael.

Lorne quietly took a step back as Caldwell continued to speak to Sheppard. Pretty soon, the small transport was under fire and Caldwell ordered the group beamed onto the Bridge. Lorne's eyes narrowed as he watched Michael look around the Bridge, taking everything in. Lorne stayed quiet as Michael spoke.

"_I've disabled their jamming code, but it's only a matter of time before they realize." _He said

"_All you have to do is send over a nuke." _Sheppard added. Caldwell frowned.

"_We deployed all our warheads in the first attack." _He replied. Suddenly, Kleinman spoke up.

"_The Hive is launching Darts, sir."_

_"Open up those bays, all batteries!" _Caldwell yelled. Lorne gripped the backs of the seats tightly. The ship continued to be barraged with weapons, and finally a blast hit solidly. Lorne tumbled to the ground, but managed to get himself up and back to behind the seats. Colonel Sheppard had managed to get into the pilot's chair, and was pulling the Daedalus away from the action.

_"Report!" _Caldwell ordered. Lorne listened to the details, taking heavy breaths. This was definitely the worst space battle he'd ever been in, especially considering it was his first. He was startled back into reality when McKay spoke up frantically.

_"…In a little under nine hours, we're all gonna suffocate."_ Lorne stopped sucking air in so much. Nine hours was not nearly enough time to do anything. An uneasy silence fell over everyone in the Bridge, marred only by sparks still shooting out of equipment that had been affected by the shots from the Hive. Thankfully, however, the Hive had stopped firing on the Daedalus.

"We need an assessment of the ship, find out exactly how bad the damage is and how we can fix it. Dr. McKay, take Kleinman with you." Caldwell ordered. Rodney nodded absently and turned to leave the Bridge.

"Zelenka, come with us." McKay called over his shoulder. Zelenka muttered something inappropriate in Czech and followed after them. Lorne moved from behind Caldwell and Sheppard and sat in the seat Kleinman had just vacated. He sighed slightly as he sat down, but was instantly back to work, trying to breathe as shallow as possible. He had been trained to do this, of course, being in the Air Force and being expected to be in high altitudes with little Oxygen available.

"Damage reports are coming in from all over the ship, sir." Lorne reported. Caldwell tilted his head slightly towards him.

"Do we still have ship-wide communications?" He asked. Lorne nodded.

"Yes sir. Those are still fairly intact."

"Put me through to everyone." Caldwell ordered. Lorne pressed a button then nodded at Caldwell.

"This is Colonel Caldwell. As you are aware, we have taken heavy damage. As a result, we're venting oxygen. I ask that everyone try to limit their air intake as much as possible. However, that doesn't mean that everyone needs to be doing as much as they can to repair the ship. Caldwell out." Lorne turned the comms off and took a quick look over at Sheppard. The Colonel tilted his head slightly to acknowledge the look.

"Colonel Sheppard." Rodney's voice sounded over the radio.

"What do you need, Rodney?" Sheppard asked.

"I need you to go out in a 302 to assess the damage. We want to try to find some areas of the ship that are secure enough and with oxygen so that we can get some extra time for living." Rodney replied. Sheppard nodded.

"Okay, I'm on my way." He looked over to where Ronon and Michael still stood, silently glaring at each other.

"You two play nice. Actually, why don't you two go wait in the meeting room? Major Lorne can escort you." Sheppard looked quickly over at Lorne, who nodded at him. Lorne quickly stood up and gestured for Ronon and Michael to leave the Bridge ahead of him. The two glared at each other once more, then Michael turned and left the Bridge, with Ronon following silently. As he passed the Major, Ronon stared at him silently.

"What's on your mind, Ronon?" Lorne asked casually. Ronon shrugged.

"Hoping everyone on Atlantis is okay." He replied. Lorne nodded. Even though he had been doing his job, all his thoughts kept turning to Lannie. He didn't know if she had an idea about what was going on with the Daedalus or anything else that was happening. He followed the Runner and the Wraith into the next room, standing in the doorway watching the two of them. Michael was looking out into space through the windows, and Ronon was in the opposite corner of the room staring at him silently. Michael turned slightly and addressed Lorne.

"You're female is not here." He said. Lorne stiffened at the mention of Lannie.

"No, she's safe back in Atlantis." He responded calmly.

"She was not there when we were." Michael commented.

"No, she wasn't, not like it should really matter." Lorne snipped. Michael closed his eyes slightly.

"She knows more than she lets on. Her scent…" he trailed off slightly, "she smelled like a scent I have not known for some time. A scent of the Ancients." Michael finished. Ronon slowly advanced on the Wraith menacingly, but Lorne waved him off.

"It just so happens that she is an Ancient, but you'll never see her again, so you can just forget her scent, or whatever, again." Lorne was getting angry by now, so he turned his back on the Wraith, looking back over at Ronon. Ronon nodded his head slightly to Lorne and took a step back into his corner. What seemed like an eternity passed, with extremely shallow breathing on Lorne's part, and then suddenly Dr. McKay had barged into the room.

"I need to talk to you. Sheppard and Caldwell are on their way." He didn't direct his statement to anyone in particular, so Lorne stayed put at the entrance to the room. Soon, Caldwell and Sheppard entered.

"Major, why don't you take over the Bridge for a few moments?" Caldwell rasped. Lorne nodded and took off down the short hallway to the Bridge. He sank into one of the seats, looking briefly over at Kleinman. Kleinman returned the look, then went back to puttering on his display. Lorne just stared out into space. He wished mightily that they still had long-range communications working, he could at least contact Lannie…

Lannie. She had begged him not to die, to come back to her relatively well. She had known this would happen all along, but couldn't warn him any more than she had. He tried breathing differently, doing anything he could so that he would live and get back to her. He needed to hold her in his arms again, to lie on their couch with her watching a movie, to just be with her. He had brought up future plans with her once, and she had laid down some ground rules. He wasn't allowed to propose to her until they had been dating for over a year, and then they would have to wait at least another year to get married. He had agreed to the terms, because he wanted it to work. He could envision them old and with children and grandchildren, and he liked that thought. He sat up straighter as Colonels Caldwell and Sheppard reappeared on the Bridge.

"Major, I need you to go suit up. We're sending the retrovirus over to the Hive, and then we're going over to secure it. It has enough air for us, so we'll take a team over to secure the ship for everyone to go there." Sheppard said to him. Lorne nodded silently and quickly took off towards the weapons locker on the level below the Bridge. He could already hear Sheppard calling for a few of the Marines to assemble on the Bridge. He grabbed a vest and a P-90, then headed slowly back to the Bridge. He was starting to feel tired, and that wasn't a good sign. Sheppard took a quick look at him when he reentered the Bridge.

"Major, come sit over here, conserve some energy." Motioning to behind the command chairs, Sheppard took a seat on the ledge, and Lorne wearily followed suit. The rest of the Marines entered and sat down behind them.

"For the record, sir, I'm not too thrilled with this mission." Lorne said quietly to Sheppard. The Colonel looked at him sideways.

"Well, think about it this way. We get the Wraith ship, we go home, and Lannie doesn't get to beat the crap out of me for not bringing her Boyfriend back in one piece."

"I have a feeling she'll beat you up for another reason, sir." Lorne joked. Sheppard let out a half chuckle.

"Well, let's all get home in one piece, how's that?" Sheppard responded. Lorne smiled and nodded quietly. Everyone on the Bridge kept quiet, conserving air and praying that the retrovirus worked and that they would be safe going over there.

Finally, Rodney stumbled onto the Bridge, sucking the last of his oxygen from the emergency tank. Lorne saw a small red light flashing from Kleinman's display, and heard him and Caldwell discuss the imminent danger.

_"We've gotta go now."_ Sheppard stood up, and Lorne, struggling slightly, stood as well, the two leading the Marines and Rodney, Ronon, and Michael off of the Bridge and towards the Transporter. When they got there, Sheppard turned to Michael.

"I think you should stay here for the moment. There's a chance all the gas isn't completely gone, and we need you to fly the ship back home."

"I understand. I will remain here until it is…safe." He finished. Sheppard nodded, and the group gathered together on the platform.

In a flash they were on the Hive ship. Everyone took huge breaths of air before slowly walking down the hallway. They quickly came across a group of Wraith lying on the floor. Lorne bent down slightly to look at one of them, noting that he was beaten severely.

_"Some of them are dead." _Sheppard commented. Lorne nodded.

_"Looks like they killed each other."_ Lorne replied. Suddenly an unfamiliar voice spoke up, and Lorne quickly raised his gun and pointed it towards the voice. One of the changed Wraith stood there, looking confused. He lowered his gun slightly, then after listening to Sheppard give some orders to the Marines, he followed the Colonel, Rodney, and Ronon towards the Queen's Chamber. Every so often they would come across bodies, or even a few former Wraith standing there confused. Sheppard would direct them back to where the Marines were, and they continued on. Finally they entered the Chamber, and saw the Queen lying on the steps to her throne.

Lorne and Sheppard cautiously walked towards the Queen. He bent down in front of her, reaching for her shoulder.

_"It's okay, you're gonna be alright now."_ He said. The Queen turned her head, revealing a Wraith face, and before he knew it she had him by the throat, holding him up in the air with incredible strength. Lorne's eyes widened in shock as the Queen reached her hand back to attack him, but then Sheppard, Rodney and Ronon began shooting the Queen. She dropped him quickly, and Lorne landed hard on his side. He gasped for air.

_"It didn't work on her." _He exclaimed, thanking whatever god that was watching over him that he was still alive.

_"Oh. Beckett wondered if the females would be immune."_ Rodney said, sounding surprised. Lorne glared over at him and rubbed his throat.

_"Yea. Something you might have mentioned _before_ she almost killed me, Rodney."_

Rodney walked over to Lorne offering a hand to help him up.

_"I only thought of it now."_ He said as an apology. His eyes opened slightly again.

"Please don't tell Lannie I almost got you killed, I'd rather not have something explode on me the next time I'm in the Lab." Lorne smirked at Rodney's comment. Lannie had both Sheppard and apparently Rodney wrapped around her finger, and they both knew how upset she was already about the entire situation. Lorne shrugged.

"There's no guarantee she doesn't know already, Rodney. But I won't say anything." Lorne said reassuringly. Sheppard turned to everyone.

"Caldwell is sending everyone over. Michael will be coming over and I want the two of you to get the ship flying again." He said to Rodney.

"Thrilling." Rodney snarked in reply. "I suppose we should go to their Bridge then?" He walked out of the Queen's Chamber, and the rest followed him. Sheppard put a hand on Lorne's shoulder.

"You okay?" He asked. Lorne nodded.

"Yes sir. It was more of a shock then anything else." Lorne replied. Sheppard nodded, then smiled.

"Okay. Well, let's get home, shall we?" He jogged down the hall after Rodney and Ronon, and Lorne followed after them.

-------------------

Lannie was wandering around the Control room. Everyone was a little on edge because a Wraith Hive Ship was approaching Atlantis. Dr. Weir was speaking to them from Earth, as she was still there. Soon, Lannie felt the ship arrive, followed by Colonel Sheppard's voice speaking loud and clear to everyone in the room.

"We're going to move into orbit, and then I need Carson up here ASAP. Caldwell will transport him directly to the Hive, and then the Daedalus is going be landing. They need a lot of work, so if there are some teams available that would be great." Sheppard said to Teyla.

"Of course, we will be ready." Teyla replied, smiling widely. Lannie's grin was just as wide, as she continued to pace the Control Room. Everyone in the room was talking excitedly, and she met Teyla's eyes and the two of them smiled at each other.

"Lannie, would you like to be the welcoming party?" Teyla asked. Lannie's eyes lit up and her smile widened even more.

"When are they arriving?" She asked. The technician looked at his display.

"Dr. Beckett just got beamed up to the Hive, and the Daedalus is on its way back right now. They'll be landing in about five minutes." He answered. Lannie nodded.

"I'll go meet up with the repair teams and we'll go meet them." Lannie turned and practically skipped out of the room.

She met up with two teams and they made their way to where the Daedalus was landing. She stood there, fidgeting slightly, as the Daedalus touched down solidly. After a moment the hatch door opened, and Daedalus crewmembers started pouring out of the ship. Michael also emerged, escorted by Ronon and a few Marines. Behind them, looking a bit worn down, was Major Lorne. As soon as he stepped back onto Atlantis, his eyes were searching for Lannie. Lannie beamed and quickly passed by Michael and Ronon and went straight into Lorne's arms.

Lorne held onto Lannie tightly, closing his eyes and smiling to himself. He was finally back home.

"Hey sweetheart." He whispered to her. Lannie looked up and kissed him solidly. Then she pulled back and punched him in the shoulder. Ronon and Michael had stopped and were quietly watching the two.

"Ow! What was that for, Lannie?" Lorne asked, rubbing his shoulder.

"That's for almost getting killed by a Wraith Queen. You always have to be a perfect gentleman, don't you, Evan?" Lannie's voice turned teasing slightly, then she turned and hit Ronon as well.

"And that's for not stopping him, or the Queen for that matter." Ronon just shook his head and smirked at her. Lannie then turned to Michael.

"I should probably thank you for returning everyone safely back to Atlantis. If it weren't for you, we would all be mourning them. So thank you." She said a little stiffly to him. Michael nodded his head slightly towards her. Ronon then turned and started moving Michael back into the City as Lorne came up behind Lannie and wrapped his arms around her.

"Why don't we go home?" He asked. Lannie turned her head and smirked at him.

"Yes, lets. You need a shower desperately." Lorne laughed and the two of them left the platform and went towards their room.

---------------------

A few days later, Lannie was sitting at a table in the Mess Hall, eating her lunch.

"Is this seat taken?" an unfamiliar voice asked. Lannie looked up to see an older gentleman standing in front of her with a coffee cup and a Danish in his hand.

"Um, no, it's not." Lannie replied, eying him warily as he sat down. The man took a sip from his mug.

"Perhaps I should be introducing myself. I'm Richard Woolsey, from the IOA." Lannie raised her eyebrows in question.

"I'm from Earth. To be more specific, I'm from the United States Government." Woolsey explained.

"Oh, you're the one who came back with Dr. Weir." Lannie responded. Woolsey nodded.

"Yes, I am." He replied.

"I'm assuming you're not here for a vacation, however." Lannie commented, eating another bite of her meal. Woolsey shook his head.

"No, actually, I'm not. The IOA is just, well, checking in on what's going on with Atlantis." He replied.

"You mean you're investigating Dr. Weir, and whether she's fit to be in command of the City." Lannie replied evenly, smirking slightly as Woolsey's eyes widened.

"Well. Lannie, correct? You're the last living Ancient, so I hear. I'm not surprised that you would know these things. I've read your file." Woolsey replied. Lannie sat back.

"I have a file?" She echoed. Woolsey nodded.

"Yes, everyone has one. The people at Stargate Command aren't the only ones who know about you. The President of the United States even knows who you are."

"Lucky me." Lannie retorted. Just then, she saw Lorne entering the Mess and quickly waved him over.

"Hey Lannie." Evan said, leaning down and giving her a kiss on the head. He then looked up and saw Woolsey there.

"Mr. Woolsey, sir." He said coolly.

"Major Lorne." Woolsey replied. "I didn't know the two of you were involved. Lannie and I were just getting to know one another."

"Evan, I'm apparently famous back on Earth. Or would it be infamous, in this case, Mr. Woolsey?" Lannie said, slightly glaring at him. Woolsey shook his head.

"I didn't mean anything bad by that, Lannie. I apologize. But having an Ancient in Atlantis is a great opportunity for the people here to learn more about the City and the technology it has to offer us."

Lorne sat down next to Lannie. "Take it as being known and welcomed by the SGC, Lannie." Lorne mediated. Lannie nodded.

"I can accept that. However, Mr. Woolsey, why don't you get to why you sat down with me in the first place. You wish to know what I think about Dr. Weir's command of Atlantis. Dr. Weir is perfect for this job. Everyone here respects her and her decisions, and I am honored to know her and assist her in any way possible." Lannie sat back and crossed her arms in front of her.

Woolsey nodded and stood up. "Well, it was a pleasure speaking with you. And Major, nice talking with you again." With a slight nod, Woolsey turned and left the Mess Hall, grabbing an Orange on the way out. Lannie sighed heavily and put her head on Lorne's shoulder.

"I know how you're feeling. I just finished being interviewed by him myself." Lorne replied, leaning forward and stealing some food from Lannie's plate. Lannie sat back up and playfully swatted at his hand.

"Go get your own food. I actually have to get back to work right now, unfortunately." Lannie said to him.

"Work? Where are you today?" Lorne asked, standing with her.

"I'm helping out in the Infirmary. Dr. Beckett is on the…non Wraith planet, so I'm helping out with a few things." Lannie replied, slightly hesitant when she mentioned the planet. Lorne nodded and gave Lannie a quick hug.

"Okay, well I'll come find you later for dinner, okay? Love you." He said, winking at her and heading towards the food line. Lannie smiled after him and left the Mess, noting that Caldwell was walking away from Woolsey at the same time.

---------------------

It was a few days after they had lost both the Hive ship and the non-Wraith. It was evening, and Lannie was getting ready to leave the Infirmary. As she walked passed Dr. Beckett's office, she saw him sitting at his desk with his head in his hands.

"Carson?" she asked gently. Carson looked up with a start.

"Oh, sorry Lannie, you startled me." He replied, looking worn out. Lannie entered his office and sat on the edge of his desk.

"You didn't know that was going to happen." She said.

"Aye, in a way I did." He replied glumly. Lannie put a hand on his shoulder.

"You do not know what the future holds, Carson. You have done things that even the Ancients could not do. There is a reason for everything that happens. It is their will." She said, mentioning the Ancients. Carson gave her a half smile.

"What Michael did to you, well, he was a special case anyway. And I have a feeling we will never forget him. But you must move forward, Carson. Continue doing all the good work that you do, and you will be rewarded. Trust me." Lannie finished, hopping off of his desk.

"Evan is expecting me, so I have to go. I will see you tomorrow, Doctor Beckett." Carson patted Lannie's hand gently and smiled at her as she turned and left his office.

--------------------TBC--------------

Thoughts? Someone had left me a review asking about marriage and such, and I knew that this was my plan, for them to not be getting married for a while, so I figured this chapter would be a good place to explain it. I had initially wanted Lannie and Cadman to be talking about it, but since she hasn't been in any episodes for a while, it just didn't work. And for the record, I'm a big fan of Robert Picardo, who plays Woolsey, however he just plays such a character on Atlantis and SG-1 that I couldn't help myself. So, that's all for my explanations, I hope you enjoy, and please feel free to use that nice blue button underneath the story to send me a review!


	31. One Year Later

One year. One year since her muse had taken over, one year since all of her creativity and her passion had emerged into type on a page on a website. One year since the many, many ideas floating around in her head managed to form a coherent sequence as they flowed out of her fingers and onto the screen. For it being one year, she wanted to have a great way to celebrate it.

And then it had happened. One morning, going to turn her trusted and beloved computer on, an error message was the first thing to greet her, instead of her normal desktop of an Atlantis montage.

"Heat sink not connected. System Alert!" She stared, dumfounded, at the message. After four years, this was happening to her, NOW?? Of all the times for it to happen, she had papers for school to finish, and three chapters, THREE currently being worked on at the moment. And now her computer had gone and died. Ok, it had temporarily broken. And she was left with nothing.

And then an angel in the form of one of her best friends handed her a laptop.

Slowly, (as the laptop was slightly older and thus took a little longer doing things than she would have liked) she began to readjust to this new experience. Her father assured her that he could fix the computer, he just needed to get some special glue. Until then, she had the laptop. But she didn't have her work.

But, being the intelligent and crisis-managing person that she was, she did what she knew best.

She started rewriting the next chapter to be released. And is still working on that very same chapter now, one year after her very first chapter was ever released. And she also went back and edited some of her other chapters, changing a few important and now official details. And she continued to brainstorm about future chapters, coming up with some incredible ideas for the future.

She would be okay, and so would her computer. And she knew that all the readers would be as supportive as ever, and wait patiently for her to finish what she could to satisfy their interests. Everything would work out.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now, in non-creative speak, yes, my computer is temporarily broken, leaving me with no material that I had written. So, I am trying to write my next chapter, which would be the SG-1 episode "Pegasus Project", because it was partially about Atlantis and an Ancient, and of course Lannie needed to be involved somehow. I'm hoping that I can have the chapter worked on more and released possibly within the next week or so, so until then, I just wanted to thank every single person who has read my story, and especially to those who have reviewed it. I never thought that I would actually release any of my ideas to the public, but I'm glad that I made that decision, because it has been an incredibly positive experience. So Thank You, everyone.

Oh, and now that it's official, I've changed Major Lorne's name from Marcus to Evan. I know that the show doesn't start up again for a little while, but in recent interviews it has been announced, so I'm just getting the head start in making that real. And that's all for now.


	32. Ancient Meetings

DISCLAIMER: I own no one except Lannie.

Author's Note: FINALLY!!!!!!!! It's taken me sooo long to get this posted, and I apologize for anyone who's been waiting. It's all the typical excuses, school, broken computer, more school, etc...but it's finally finished!!! So, I don't know if anyone has been attempting to catch up and notice anything different, but the 'official' news is that Major Lorne's first name is Evan. So, because of that, I edited all the previous chapters, and I'll use the name from now on. Also, on the bright side I'm 3/4 done with my Sateda chapter, so if I actually do some work I can have that chapter posted by possibly Monday. So, I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's about the SG-1 episode The Pegasus Project, because it's SG-1 in Atlantis, and of course, you can't have SG-1 going to Atlantis without Lannie somehow being involved!! So, please read and review!!!!

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"Doctor Weir, you wanted to see me?" Lannie asked, giving half knock on the frame of the doorway as she entered the office. Dr. Weir looked up from her computer.

"Yes, Lannie, please have a seat." Dr. Weir relaxed in her chair as Lannie took a seat opposite her.

"As I'm sure you've heard by now, the Odyssey is on its way here to the Pegasus Galaxy, with SG-1 as well." Lannie sat up further in her seat. She had known the Odyssey was coming, but she thought it was just to help the Daedalus in its repairs and to drop off supplies for the City. She had no idea that SG-1 would be arriving as well.

"I've been in communication with Doctor Jackson, and he would like our help with something that he is working on. I was hoping you could help me with this." Dr. Weir continued.

"Anything to help Doctor Jackson out." Lannie replied eagerly. Dr. Weir smiled at Lannie's enthusiasm and continued.

"As you know, the SGC has been trying to deal with the threat from the Ori." Lannie shuddered slightly.

"Doctor Jackson has the name of two planets that he believes could be hiding a weapon capable of destroying the Ori, but he can't access the Ancient Database until he gets here, and would like us to start searching. I know that you have the database in your mind, however I think in this instance we need to use the holographic interface."

Lannie nodded as Dr. Weir continued to talk. Using the holographic interface would be much easier than Lannie trying to search through her mind to find the information that Daniel would be looking for. Plus, she had never had the opportunity to use it, as it used a lot of power, power that the City just could not spare. For Dr. Weir to suggest this meant that it was absolutely necessary.

"I will be glad to help in any way that I can, Doctor Weir." Lannie responded. Dr. Weir smiled at her.

"Excellent. Let me just finish this up here and we'll go get started." Weir said.

Lannie nodded and stood up, quickly leaving the room. She walked over to the edge of the balcony and looked out over the Gate Room. It was a bright day, as usual, and the sunlight coming through the many windows created a warm, golden glow throughout the room. Everything was calm today, there were only a few teams off world, and many were taking advantage of the lull in action.

Lannie sighed in happiness. Even though things had been a little tense after the entire Wraith incident, everything seemed to be back to 'normal' in Atlantis. Rodney was still as snarky and arrogant as ever, Colonel Sheppard was a little tighter on security details, but as laid back as ever. Doctor Beckett was a little more withdrawn, but he was slowly getting back to his usual cheery self.

As for Lannie and Major Lorne, well, they were very happy. Colonel Sheppard had been kind enough to give Lorne almost a whole week off, and the two of them had spent it locked in their quarters, just spending some quality time together. Now, however, Lorne was working in the Armory with Sheppard doing inventory, and Lannie could sense Dr. Weir leaving her office.

"All set?" Weir asked Lannie, tilting her head slightly. Lannie turned and smiled, following Elizabeth to the Hologram room.

"The last time we were in here, the only thing we saw was a recording explaining Atlantis and why the Ancients left the City. Then you helped us use it to display some of the Ancient Database a little while back." Lannie nodded silently. She remembered the day that she had gone in there to look something up in the database, and how she had surprised the entire senior staff with the new technology.  
Doctor Weir stepped up to the console and pressed the button to turn the hologram on. A woman with dark hair stood in front of them.

"Welcome." The hologram spoke. "You have accessed the Atlantis database. You may make your selection at any time."

Lannie looked over at Dr. Weir. "You can speak to it, or type your question. However, since it's all in Ancient, you might want to speak."

"Okay." Dr. Weir replied cautiously. "Do you have all the Gate addresses stored in the database?" she asked the hologram.

"Every planet visited has been recorded and entered into the dialing system for future reference." The hologram replied. " If you would like a Gate address, and know the name of the planet, please reference it now."

Weir shook her head slightly. "I don't know the names of the planets yet, Doctor Jackson hasn't sent them to me. Why were you created?" she asked the hologram.

"I was created for the education of the younglings of Atlantis, so that they may learn more about their culture and of the City." The hologram replied. Lannie narrowed her eyes; she could have sworn the hologram had sighed in slight exasperation.

"Doctor Weir, would you mind if I searched around the database for a while? I might be able to find something interesting for us to use." Lannie asked her. Weir smiled briefly.

"You're more than welcome. I'll let you know if the power levels get too extreme." Weir smiled again and then left the room, the door closing behind her. Lannie stood on the dais. The hologram appeared again.

"Welcome. You may make your selection at any time." She said.

"What information do you have about the embryo left behind in the City in a stasis chamber?" Lannie asked. The hologram paused briefly, then began to speak.

"A top secret project, in case those who came across the City were not Alteran."

"Alteran?" Lannie asked.

"Alteran. The race of people that inhabited the city of Atlantis and populated many other planets throughout the galaxies." The hologram replied. Lannie pondered this for a moment. Now she knew the race of the Ancients, which she hadn't known before. The hologram continued.

"Two donors contributed to the developing embryo. The embryo was frozen in its early stages of development, and key information was inserted into its genetic code, as well as the database into the forming brain. The embryo was then placed in stasis, with the chamber calibrated to aid in fetal development, as well as allowing for maturation of the child upon the reactivation of the City.

The child was to emerge at a mature age in order to aid those who would then inhabit the City. The child would be able to benefit from the excellent physiology of the Alterans, however being unable to reach ascension, as the child would be connected to the City through its genetic makeup and would be unable to leave the City for extended periods of time, unless the child was connected to a piece of technology that could support the child's life systems."

"Is that part of the key information that you mentioned before?" Lannie spoke up. She was amazed that she had been a planned creation, as she had always secretly thought she was an experiment of an Ancient named Janus, who created the time machine and who allowed the Elizabeth Weir that the expedition had found two years ago to hid in the City to keep it from being destroyed when the expedition first arrived.

"The key information tied the child to Atlantis, allowing for it to understand key systems as well as know what was going on at all times within the City to prevent catastrophe. However, because of this, and the fact that there was not enough time to perfect the technology, the child would not be able to leave the City for long periods, as the need for Atlantian technology to be around the child was necessary in order to ensure survival." The hologram explained.

Lannie frowned sadly at that statement. She had known that she couldn't leave Atlantis for long periods, because she always felt faint when she was away, but she had always hoped that she could go to Earth with Lorne at some point. Now, unless she, or Rodney, figured out a way to keep her connected to Ancient technology, she would be tied to the City or any other Ancient ship they might find in the future.

"For something so top secret, there's a lot of information about me in the database." Lannie mused out loud. The hologram blinked and seemed to grimace slightly. Lannie stared in question at the hologram.

"I also didn't think holograms looked like they gave out too much information, either." Lannie said. The hologram blinked again, and then sighed heavily and looked directly at Lannie.

"I apologize, Lannie. But the answers you were seeking are not in the database, and I know how much you have wanted to know more about yourself." The hologram said.

Lannie stared in wonderment. "You're an Ancient." Lannie said. The Ancient nodded.

"Yes. You may know me as Morgan Le Faye." Morgan replied.

"I'm not sure. I know that Daniel Jackson has been sending me things to read and your name has been in it, and there was another Ancient named as well, a Merlin?" Lannie asked. Morgan nodded.

"Yes, that is correct."

"Okay, so why are you telling me all this information? Don't you have a no interference policy when you're ascended?" Lannie asked. Morgan nodded.

"Yes, however there is an exception because you are yourself one of us, and because of that I can communicate with you. The others believed that it was time you knew more about yourself, other than just the basics." Lannie nodded.

"Okay, I understand that. And thank you." She looked up to the sky as she said this. Looking back at Morgan, she continued.

"You must have a reason other than wanting to speak with me for being here. Is it the Ori? Or the Wraith?" Lannie asked. Morgan closed her eyes briefly.

"I'm afraid I cannot tell you that." She replied. Lannie shrugged.

"Well, can't say I didn't try. Do you know the names of, well, I guess my parents? The two who helped to create me?"

"I do not. That part of the project was carefully guarded and still remains unknown. I am sorry, Lannie. I know that you want to know more, but this is all that I can give you."

Lannie smiled and nodded. "I understand. Thank you for what you could tell me, Morgan. I truly appreciate it."

Morgan smiled at Lannie. "I wish there was more that I can tell you, Lannie. However, I cannot. This will be the last time you will see me, as well."

"But I have so much to learn from you still! Isn't there a way for you to still come and teach me? If I can't ascend, having the knowledge that you have will help me accept that. Please, Morgan, you must stay." Lannie interrupted. Morgan shook her head.

"I cannot. But I can do one thing for you. Step up here, and take my hands." Morgan motioned for Lannie to join her. Lannie tentatively stepped up onto the dais and placed her hands in Morgan's.

"There is a way for you to momentarily share in our Enlightenment. As you are one of us, the knowledge should remain for some time, instead of just passing quickly. Just relax, and close your eyes." Morgan stated.

Lannie closed her eyes, and all around her she could feel a warmth and see a bright light through her eyelids. All of a sudden she felt as if she was everywhere at one, spread out through the entire galaxy. She could sense things she had never felt before, and it was as if she could see everything for the first time, as if her eyes had never been opened at all.

"This is amazing." She breathed. The knowledge that was being shown to her was just enough so that she wasn't completely overwhelmed, but it was more than she could even imagine being given to her. She was so absorbed in the experience that she didn't notice Morgan removing her hands from Lannie's and disappearing, leaving Lannie alone in the hologram room.

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Major Lorne entered the Control Room, his eyes searching around for Lannie. Not seeing her, he headed to Dr. Weir's office.

"Hello Major, what can I do for you?" Dr. Weir asked him.

"I'm looking for Lannie. I know she was with you earlier, so I figured you'd know where she is now." He replied. Elizabeth smiled.

"Well, I left her in the Hologram Room, so you could check there first. I left her about an hour ago, but she might still be there. " Lorne smiled gratefully at her and headed to the room. As the door opened, he could see that it was dimly lit, but that Lannie was standing in the middle of the dais, her eyes closed and a smile on her face.

"Lannie?" Lorne asked, stepping into the room and up to her. Lannie didn't move, so Lorne gently put his hand on her shoulder and gave her a gentle shake.

"Hey, Lannie, where'd you go?" he asked. Lannie slowly let out a breath and opened her eyes, blinking a few times.

"Evan?" she asked, staring at him.

"Hey. What were you doing?" he asked her, moving his hand off of her shoulder and placing in on hers. Lannie continued blinking as she looked around the room.

"I was… um, I was looking through the database. For whatever was recorded about me in it." She answered. Shaking her head slightly, she looked back at Lorne and smiled.

"You finished doing your inventory?" she asked him.

"Yea, Sheppard let me go so that I could find you. You want to go grab some food?" he asked her as he guided her down off the dais.

"Um, sure, that sounds good." Lannie answered distractedly. Lorne turned and faced her.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You're acting like you're a space cadet. Did you find something in there that upset you?" Lorne asked.

"No, no, I found exactly what I wanted. And then some. I'm sorry, Evan, I guess I just had an overload of information and it's taking me a bit to process. But I'm really hungry, so let's go get some food." Lannie smiled, trying to convince Lorne that she was fine. Lorne narrowed his eyes at her slightly, but then squeezed her hand quickly.

"Okay, let's go."

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"Evan. Evan, wake up."

"Lannie? What's the matter?"

"The Odyssey is landing any minute, and we're still in bed. Come on, we have to go." Lorne groaned.

"Are you kidding me? Lannie, it's my one day off. Plus, once they get here they're going straight into a meeting with Doctor Weir, so it's not like they're going to want to meet you. Go back to sleep, or at least let me go back to sleep."

Lannie sighed unhappily and bit her lip, looking at Lorne. Lorne sighed slightly and pulled Lannie towards him.

"I know that you want to meet SG-1, and I especially know how much you want to me Doctor Jackson. But there's no time at the moment to meet them, they have a mission to complete. Maybe later today after they're done you can meet them. Until then, though, you're just going to have to wait. Okay? I know you're excited, and it's really adorable, but you just have to relax." He sleepily played with Lannie's hair for a moment before wrapping his arm around her waist and closing his eyes again.

An hour later Lorne woke up again to gentle rustling on the other side of the room.

"Lannie, babe, what are you doing?" he asked, rolling over to look at her. She was wearing a bathrobe and was busy sifting through her closet.

"I have nothing to wear." She replied dully. Lorne's eyes widened at her statement.

"Are you kidding me? For someone who hasn't even been alive for a year yet, you have more clothes than even my sister. And that's saying something, because Becka loves to shop. Just wear what you normally do every day."

Lannie sighed and looked back at her closet. "But it's not appropriate." She said to herself.

Lorne rolled his eyes as he realized what her problem was.

"This is about SG-1 again, isn't it. Lannie, I'm just going to say this once. They don't care what you're wearing. Trust me. They're going to be in uniform, as is everyone else in this City, other than you, because you're, well, you. Whatever you choose will be fine, they won't even notice. Doctor Jackson will be too busy trying to pick your brain to care what you look like."

Lannie turned to him slowly, her arms crossed in front of her. "You think that?" she asked. Lorne nodded.

"I know that. Trust me, please? Look, if you want to look nice for them wear that green shirt and the khaki skirt. It makes your hair color brighter, plus you love that skirt. Is that a good idea?" Lorne pulled himself out of bed and walked over to where Lannie was standing. Lannie pulled out the outfit from her closet and smiled slightly.

"It'll work." She said, looking up at Lorne. Lorne grinned and wrapped his arms around her. Lannie leaned back into him for a moment, then squirmed out of his grasp and turned to face him.

"I'm changing, and you need to get yourself up and out there as well. It might be your day off, but you still have to make an appearance. Colonel Sheppard wanted to see you sometime today, remember? Go get dressed, you're only in your pajama pants. I'll be ready to go when you get out of the bathroom." Lannie shooed him out of the bedroom, grinning at him. Lorne laughed as he made his way to the bathroom, where Lannie had left his clothes.

Shaving quickly, Lorne changed into his clothes and left the bathroom. Looking around the living area, he called out to Lannie.

"Lan, where's my sidearm?"

Lannie emerged from the bedroom with the holster in her hand. "Here you go. All set?" She smiled as Lorne took a quick look at her. She had pulled her hair half up in a clip, and had put a little makeup on as well. She was also wearing her favorite pair of sandals, which gave her an extra inch height, which she secretly loved. Lorne grinned at her.

"Gorgeous, as always. Ok, let's go. Do you have anything to do today?" he asked her as they left their quarters. Lannie shook her head.

"No, Carson doesn't need me today, and Rodney didn't leave me anything to work on, so I pretty much have the day off as well." Lorne smiled as the two walked down the hall hand-in-hand.

"Excellent. I just need to go see Colonel Sheppard, and then we can figure out something to do for the rest of the day. How does that sound?"

"Great." Lannie grinned as they stepped into the Transporter. Lorne kissed her quickly as the doors opened up to the hallway where Sheppard's office was. The two walked the short distance and arrived at the office door. Lorne knocked before opening the door.

"Hey, Major. Hi Lannie, you look very nice today." Colonel Sheppard commented, pulling his legs down from off the desk where he had been lounging. Lannie smiled at him.

"Thanks John. I just tagged along, so don't mind me." She replied. Sheppard smiled, then turned to Lorne.

"I know it's your day off, but since the Odyssey is here, they brought us some new people, and I think it's a good time to give them all our reports that we have. I just wanted to go over a few of the reports before I hand them over to Colonel Emerson before he leaves. Hopefully it won't take too long, so you two can have the rest of the day to yourselves." Sheppard grinned at Lannie, who blushed slightly.

"It won't be all day, John. I get to meet SG-1 after their mission is over." Lannie replied. Sheppard smiled.

"Well, Doctor Jackson and a nice woman named Vala are in the Hologram room right now, and Carter and Mitchell are on the Odyssey with McKay working on their little project. Unfortunately, Teal'c didn't come out this time." Sheppard replied.

"Well, I can meet Teal'c another time. But it'll be wonderful to meet everyone else. But you two do what you need to, I'm going to borrow your Sudoku book, if that's okay, John." Lannie replied, grabbing the book and a pencil off of Sheppard's desk. The Colonel grinned, he and Lannie loved doing the puzzles, and he always left the book on his desk in case she stopped by.

Lannie settled down in the chair and began busily working on the puzzle as the two men discussed the reports. She finished a puzzle that Colonel Sheppard had started, then began working on a new one. A few minutes later, she was in the middle of the puzzle when she felt warmth fill her suddenly. Lannie closed her eyes, smiling slightly.

"She's back." She whispered. Colonel Sheppard and Major Lorne turned to look at her.

"Lannie? Who's back?" Lorne asked her. Lannie opened her eyes again and shook her head.

"No one, sorry. Never mind. Continue with your work." She waved her pencil at the two of them, smiling wickedly. Inside, however, she was ecstatic. Morgan Le Faye had returned and had just spoken quickly to Doctor Jackson. She went back to her puzzle, hoping that Morgan would come to see Lannie once again.

"Ok, Major, thanks for all your help. I'll let you two to the rest of your day." Colonel Sheppard smiled lazily, leaning back in his chair.

"No problem, sir. Oh, did the Odyssey bring supplies or anything from Earth? I could help doing some inventory of that if you'd like." Lorne asked. Sheppard shook his head.

"You're to enjoy your day off, Major, not work. But yes, the Odyssey did bring some boxes for us, including personal packages." He looked over at Lannie, who was only half listening. At the comment, she looked up.  
"Hey, I can't help it if General O'Neill likes sending me presents. Although one box is some things that we ordered from Earth, so we should probably stop by the inventory to pick them up before we do anything else." Quickly finishing the puzzle, she handed the book back to Sheppard.

"Thanks for letting me work on this, I finished that one you'd been working on for a while, I hope you don't mind." Lannie suddenly tilted her head and looked at Sheppard.

"You did the lemon thing." She scolded him. Sheppard grinned evilly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about Lannie." He casually replied.

"Yes you do. You gave Colonel Mitchell a lemon so that he could provoke Rodney. That's evil, John."

"That's funny, Lannie. And yes, a little cruel, but wave that thing in front of McKay's face and he does what he's told. I figured it couldn't hurt too much." Sheppard replied. Lorne chuckled softly to himself. It was a dirty trick, but it would definitely make McKay behave. Lannie just rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"I give up. Let's go, Evan." Lannie looked over at Sheppard, barely containing her grin, as she pulled Lorne from the office. The two began heading back down the hallway towards the Transporter.

"I can't believe we have three boxes of junk." Major Lorne stated, dropping his two boxes on the floor in front of the couches in the living area. Lannie dropped her box next to the other two and went into the kitchen area to get a pair of scissors. Lorne stared at the three boxes as he collapsed on the couch.

"Well, if you must know, I only ordered things to fill one box, you have things in the other box, and I have a feeling the last box is from your sister." Lannie said, returning to the living area and opening the first box. Lorne groaned slightly.

"Yea, that makes me feel so much better, that one box is from Becka. God only knows what she sent us." Lorne leaned forward and tugged the tape off of one of the other boxes while Lannie opened her box. As Lannie started pulling out clothes and other assorted things, Lorne opened his box to see a letter lying on the top. He pulled it out of the box and began reading. A few seconds later he let out a choked noise as he continued reading.

Lannie looked over worriedly at Lorne when he made the noise. Putting the shirt she was currently holding down, she put a hand on his arm.

"Evan? What's wrong?" she asked quietly. Looking away briefly, Lorne looked back down at the letter before looking at Lannie.

"My grandmother is moving to a nursing home. Apparently she's not doing so well, and my parents are helping to sell her home, and everything in it. Becka sent me some things that were left to me, and she sent me a list of other stuff incase I wanted any of that as well."

Lannie wrapped her arms around Lorne, hugging him tightly. She knew how close he was to his grandparents, and to know that his grandmother was ill and he was stuck in the Pegasus Galaxy was going to be incredibly hard for him. Lorne pulled Lannie closer to him, holding her tightly. After a few minutes, he let her go with a quick kiss.

"So, did you get anything exciting?" he asked, deliberately changing the subject. Lannie smiled knowingly, and turned to her box.

"I just got some clothes that I had ordered, and a few new movies to watch. Also, Jack sent me a few books that I might like to read." She replied.

"General O'Neill sent you books? I'm surprised." Lorne replied, remembering a very different O'Neill. Lannie laughed.

"Two of them are comic books, and they do count as actual books. And he also sent me a book that one of the movies I have is based on." Lannie grinned smugly at Lorne as she said this. Lorne smiled slightly back at her, watching her go through the rest of the box. Lannie sensed that Lorne was obviously distracted.

"You know, I can always put on a, what's it called? Fashion show, for you later if you'd like." Lannie said, looking over at him slyly as she put the clothes back in the box. Lorne chuckled at the comment.

"I might hold you to that, Lan. Why don't we put all this stuff away somewhere?" He quickly closed the box from his sister and began picking up the other box underneath it.

"Wait, you didn't open the other box. What did you get?" Lannie asked. Lorne smiled.

"Nothing for you to worry about right now. Come on, put your box away for later." Lorne winked at her as he moved into the bedroom. Lannie giggled slightly and followed him in. Dropping her box on the bed, she began removing items and either putting them in the closet or in the growing collection of movies and books that she had. After a few moments, she looked over at Lorne.

Even though he was going through the other box now, he kept stealing looks at the box from his sister. Lannie sighed softly. She knew he needed time to go through it by himself, so she wouldn't push it.

Just as she finished putting everything away, a feeling of cold cut through her body and she gasped sharply. Lorne looked up from his box.

"Lannie? What's wrong?" he asked, moving over to her and putting his hand on her shoulders.

"She's gone." Lannie gasped slightly. Lorne frowned in confusion.

"Lannie, who is this 'she' that you keep talking about? You mentioned her earlier in Sheppard's office." Lorne guided her to sit down on the bed, keeping an arm wrapped around her.

"She was, is, an Ancient. Morgan le Faye, to be precise. She was posing as a hologram to give us information. I spoke to her a few days ago, when Doctor Jackson asked for help from Doctor Weir and me. She appeared again to Daniel today, and now she's gone." Lannie paused for a moment.

"Gone for good. The others took her away. All because she was trying to help. That's the one thing I will never truly understand about my people. They want to help, but they don't do anything. They just sit back and watch. I thought that I understood, but now I'm not so sure."

Lorne shook his head in disbelief at what Lannie was saying. An Ancient had shown up in the City, and Lannie had talked to her? And now the others had intervened and taken her away? Lorne decided not to question it further, he just pulled Lannie into a hug. Lannie sighed slightly and hugged Lorne tightly back before pulling away. Lorne could hear the faint click of Lannie's radio coming to life.

"Yes, Doctor Weir?" Lannie clicked her radio on when she heard the voice in her ear.

"Lannie, I was wondering if you could come down to my office. I have someone here who would like to meet you very much." Dr. Weir said. Lannie smiled and stood from the bed.  
"Of course, I'll be right there." Lannie looked at Lorne, who had stood up as well.

"Daniel wants to meet me now. You're coming with me?" she asked. Lorne nodded.

"Yea, I haven't seen Doctor Jackson in a while, might as well go and say hi." Lorne grabbed Lannie's hand and gave her a quick kiss on her head. "Come on, let's go meet your idol." He teased her. Lannie bumped him slightly.

"He is not my idol. I am just excited to meet him because he knows so much about the Ancients and even managed to Ascend." Lannie retorted.

"Twice." Lorne reminded her as they walked down the hallway. Lannie laughed as they entered the transporter. Within moments they were walking down the hallway towards Dr. Weir's office. Lannie knocked on the door and the two entered the office.

Dr. Weir was sitting behind her desk, with Dr. Jackson and a dark-haired woman in the chairs in front of it. Lannie smiled brightly as they turned to look at them. The woman whistled softly.

"Wow, Daniel, I guess you do keep all the good looking ones here in Atlantis." She said, looking straight at Lorne. Lorne flushed slightly, but squeezed Lannie's hand a little tighter. Daniel rolled his eyes at the woman, but then stood and walked over to Lannie.

"It's so good to finally meet you in person, Lannie. You'll have to excuse Vala's comment about Major Lorne. Major, it's good to see you again." Lorne shook Daniel's hand firmly.

"Nice to see you as well, Doctor Jackson. Lannie's been looking forward to meeting you since she found out you were coming." Lannie blushed slightly, but kept smiling.

"Well, now that introductions are out of the way, Daniel, you can tell me why this girl is so important to you?" Vala spoke up, sounding slightly bored. Dr. Jackson tensed up slightly, but then turned to face Vala.

"Lannie here happens to be an Ancient, Vala. She helps me translate Ancient text that we come across."

Vala immediately perked up at the mention of the word Ancient.

"You mean she's like Morgan le Faye? But why can she tell us things, but Morgan couldn't?"

"Because I can't Ascend, and the rules don't really apply to me. I was genetically created by the Ancients to be here when the Atlantis expedition arrived so that I could help them learn more about the City." Lannie answered, sitting down on the couch with Lorne next to her. "I have the Ancient Database in my memory, along with details about the City and what's here."

Vala's eyes lit up as she grabbed onto Daniel's arm.

"She knows where there's treasure?" She asked in an excited whisper. Jackson shrugged her off and went back to his conversation with Lannie.

"Well, Lannie. I was wondering if you knew anything more about the Hologram. Doctor Weir told me that you were using it a few days ago." Dr. Jackson said. Lannie nodded.

"I spoke to Morgan." Lannie answered. Daniel raised his eyebrows at her.

"You mean she was here before, and not just as the hologram?" he asked.

"She was here, and she spoke to me. She was able to answer some questions I had about my heritage, amongst other things." Lannie replied.

"What did she tell you? Can any of the information help us at all?" Daniel sat up in his seat, as did Dr. Weir. Lannie, however, shook her head.

"No, unfortunately I was unable to ask her anything other than some information about myself. She couldn't answer any other questions, the Others wouldn't allow it." Lannie explained. Daniel shrugged.

"Well, it was worth asking. Anyway, to change the topic, I was wondering if you had a chance to translate that text I sent to you."

Lannie nodded. "I did finish it, but I left the translation back in our quarters. I could give you a tour of the City, and while we're doing that I can get the text for you, if you'd like." Lannie looked at Dr. Weir for an okay.

"I think that's a perfect idea, Lannie. Besides, I have a few meetings to get to now, so I think we're all set here." Dr. Weir stood up and grabbed her data pad, smiling at the others in the room. Once she had left, Lannie and Lorne stood up.

"Well, shall we?" she asked happily. Daniel smiled and pulled Vala up out of her seat and followed the couple out of the office. The group walked to the Control Room.

"Well, I know that you've already been here, but this is our Control Room. From here we can monitor City activity, as well as the Stargate, of course." Vala sighed, obviously bored already. Lannie looked at Lorne, who just shrugged.

"Okay, well, I can show you the Mess Hall next, then the Infirmary and some of the Labs if you'd like." Lannie said to Dr. Jackson.

"Oh yes, food! I'm absolutely famished!" Vala exclaimed, her eyes lighting up. Daniel sighed.

"Ok, I guess Mess Hall it is." He replied. Lannie led the group out of the Control Room and down the hallway.

"So, Major, how have things been for you?" Daniel asked Lorne.

"I've been good. I'm very lucky to be out here, and not back on the Unas planet, no offence, Doc." Lorne replied. Daniel chuckled.

"I'm sure. I mean, you have Lannie here, so that's always a plus." Lorne smiled and reached for Lannie's hand.

"Lucky girl. Tell me, Lannie, are there any other dashing young men that are available?" Vala asked. Lannie laughed.

"Most everyone here is single. However, I think you need to ask Daniel for permission before you start flirting with anyone." Lannie responded. Vala laughed as Daniel stared at Lannie incredulously.

"Lannie's picked up a bit of Doctor McKay's sarcasm, Doc. Don't mind her, she didn't really mean it." Lorne said to Daniel. Daniel shook his head as the four entered the Mess Hall.

"Apparently she did. Wow, so this is the Mess Hall?" he asked, looking around. Lannie nodded.

"This is actually one of the smaller communal areas that the Ancients used, but it serves it purpose. And, it seems like we got here ahead of most of the crowd. Shall we?" Lannie gestured over to the food line.

"Daniel, do be a dear and get me something yummy. I'm going to take Miss Lannie here and look at some of the yummy male variety." Vala reached for Lannie and started pulling her towards a central table, winking at a few of the Marines sitting in the area. Daniel groaned, but Lorne clasped his shoulder.

"If Lannie can handle both McKay and Colonel Sheppard at once, she can handle Vala, Doc. Come on, let's go get some food. I know Lannie hasn't eaten since breakfast earlier, and it wasn't much." The two men got into the line.

"So, you taking good care of her?" Daniel asked. Lorne smiled.

"Of course. After getting yelled at by you about moving Ancient artifacts, I'm much more careful." Lorne joked. Daniel chuckled.

"Well, she sings your praises in her letters, so she definitely loves you. I'm happy for you two. You're a good guy, Major, and you definitely deserve to have some happiness in your life."

Lorne smiled but didn't say anything, instead stole a quick look over at Vala and Lannie. The two were laughing about something as one of the Marines at the next table was quickly turning a bright shade of red. Lannie looked over and caught his eye, smiling brightly at him. Lorne smiled back, then turned to get his food. Doctor Jackson was right, he really was lucky.

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"So, Lannie, was it everything you wanted?" Lorne asked Lannie later that night as they were getting into bed. Lannie was able to meet Colonel Carter and Colonel Mitchell when the Odyssey had returned. They were scheduled for departure the next morning, having accomplished activating the Ori Supergate indefinitely.

"That and more." Lannie answered. Lorne smiled as he pulled Lannie close to him as soon as she climbed into bed.

"Well, I'm glad." He answered, kissing the top of Lannie's head as she snuggled in next to him. Lannie smiled to herself, then with a thought turned the light off in the room, and the two quickly fell asleep.

--------------TBC---------------

Please Review!!!


	33. Vacations and Sateda

Disclaimer- Only Lannie is mine.

A/N- What??? Another chapter already??? Gee, I must feel really guilty about not posting for 3 months!!! Anyway, here's one of my favorite chapters, all about one of the best episodes this season. Of course, there is a lot of Lannie/Lorne fluff/implied smut, but it was necessary. Also, it's my excuse for why Lorne isn't in half the season. (Other than the actor being in The 4400.) Hopefully also you can follow with my 'flashback' parts, because I decided there was too much to put in italics. So, please enjoy, and review!!!!

And now, for your reading enjoyment, Sateda.

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Lannie looked over at Lorne worriedly as she willed the Jumper to speed up even more than it was already. Lorne's face was pale, sweat gleaming all over it. He was lying on one of the benches in the back, curled into a ball and moaning softly. Lannie bit her lip and turned to look back across the water as Atlantis slowly rose against the horizon.

"Doctor Beckett?" Lannie called over the radio.

"Yes, Lass?" He replied.

"We have a situation. I think Major Lorne's appendix just burst. He is in extreme pain and has a fever and chills, amongst other things. I'm almost to the City, we should be landing in the Jumper Bay in less than five minutes." Lannie told him. She could hear Carson take a sharp breath at the news.

"We'll meet you in the Bay, Lannie. Beckett out." The radio clicked off.

"Did you hear that, Evan? Carson will be there when we land, and then he'll take care of you." Lannie called back to Lorne. He moaned incoherently at her statement, as she started the descent into the Bay. As soon as the Jumper Door had lowered Beckett and a team were inside moving Lorne onto a gurney, Carson calling out orders as they went. Lannie turned in her chair, biting her lip as she watched what was happening.

"Let's move him into surgery, there's a room prepped already. Alright people, let's go." Carson called out, and the medical team made their way out of the Jumper. Carson turned around quickly to look at Lannie.

"He'll be fine, Lannie, don't worry. You got him here just in time. If you want to come to the Infirmary to wait for him you're more than welcome." With that, he turned and hurried after his team. Lannie sighed heavily and sank back into the chair, biting back tears. She knew this was going to happen, she just didn't expect it to be so soon.

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"So, you ready for our little vacation?" Major Lorne asked. Lannie grinned as she dropped her bag in the back of the Jumper and went to sit in the co-pilot seat.

"I can't believe Dr. Weir gave you three days off. In succession." Lannie replied, grinning as Lorne bent down and kissed her on top of her head before sliding into his seat.

"Well, Dr. Weir is a romantic at heart, and seeing as how it is technically the weekend before your birthday…" he cut himself off as he clicked his radio on.

"Jumper four to Control, we're set to take off."

"You have a go Jumper four." The Tech replied. Lorne expertly eased the Jumper out of the Bay and into the bright blue sky. Lannie smiled, looking out over the City as Lorne flew around it before heading towards the mainland.

Lorne was correct, it was a few days before her birthday, which she had decided meant she was turning twenty-four, no matter how much Colonel Sheppard teased that she was only a year old. Dr. Weir had been kind enough to allow Lorne to take Lannie to the Mainland for a little getaway. Lannie was thrilled. She had always wanted to go camping, and now she and Evan were on their way. They were stopping at the Athosian village first to get a tent to use as well as some bedding, and then they were heading to a place that Lorne had picked out. He refused to tell Lannie where that was exactly, only that it was near the water and that she should bring a bathing suit. She had been impressed with herself at the small amount of clothing she was bringing, but it was only three days, so she really didn't have to have much. Lorne's bag was much smaller than Lannie's of course, but he was Air Force, so he knew how to pack efficiently.

"Okay, so we're only stopping at the Athosian village. Halling already has the tent and bedding for us, and he'll be waiting at the landing area when we land. It's just a quick stop before we head to where we're going." Lorne told Lannie. Lannie nodded.

"I know, Evan. We'll have plenty of time to set the tent up before it gets dark." She knew that he was worrying about getting everything settled, since it was already the afternoon. Lorne looked over and smiled at her.

"I know. Okay, here we go, I can see Halling already." Lorne started lowering the Jumper onto the field.

"He has another bag with him." Lannie noted. "I don't think it's the bedding."

"Well, we'll see what it is in a minute." Lorne set the Jumper down gently, pressing the button to open the rear hatch. He and Lannie went to the opening as Halling approached, pulling the bags on a cart with him.

"Greetings, Major." Halling welcomed.

"Halling. It's good to see you again. Here, let me help you get everything in here." Lorne stepped down the ramp and grabbed one end of the bag the tent was in. He and Halling carried it up into the Jumper while Lannie grabbed the bedding. Halling went back down the ramp and handed Lannie a third bag.

"There is some food in there, as well as some candles and other things you may need. I'm sure you have your own things, but this is just in case." Halling said. Lannie smiled and bowed her head towards him.

"Thank you Halling. Your generosity is greatly appreciated." She said. Halling bowed his head in reply, stepping back from the Jumper.

"Enjoy your trip." He said, as Lorne pressed the button to raise the hatch back up. Lannie set the bag on one of the benches in the back and then sat back down in her seat.

"Um, Lannie? You can't sit there." Lorne said to her, with his hands on his hips. Lannie raised her eyes at him.

"Why not?" she asked.

"Um, because I don't want you to see where we're going. Surprise, remember? Keeping you in the rear is better than blindfolding you. Please, Lannie?" he asked, guiding her gently from her seat and into the back. Lannie sighed dramatically.

"Fine. You and your surprises, Evan. Sometimes you are just too much." She grinned and gave him a quick kiss before he closed the doors separating the rear of the Jumper from the front. Lannie settled down onto the bench and closed her eyes as she felt the Jumper lift off from the ground. She relaxed for the ten minute trip, opening her eyes again as she felt the Jumper land and the cockpit doors opening.

"Okay, we're here. You ready? Lorne asked her. Lannie grinned.

"Absolutely. So, where are we?" Lorne laughed.

"We're about near the central area of the mainland. However, we're by the water, and it's nice and warm, and there's plenty of clear space for us to set up camp. It's a great spot." Lorne pressed the button to the hatch, and it descended quickly. Lannie looked out into the area. They were in a wooded area, even though there was a fairly large clearing where they had landed. There was a light breeze, and the temperature was nice and warm. Lorne followed Lannie out of the Jumper.

"We're going to set the tent up about fifty yards from here, in another clearing by a fresh water stream. The beach and the ocean are a short distance away as well, so we have the best of everything." Lannie turned and smiled at Lorne.

"Evan, this is great. Let's get the tent out first, we can take care of everything else afterwards."

"Look at you, sounding like a veteran camper." Lorne joked. "Okay, help me carry this thing. There's a path leading to where we're going to be staying, so I'll take the back of the tent and you get the front. Okay?"

Lannie nodded, and the two grabbed the tent and began walking down the path. After a few minutes, they arrived at the clearing Lorne had picked out. They quickly went to work setting the tent up, getting it successfully the second time. Lorne wandered off to collect firewood while Lannie headed back to the Jumper to grab the other two bags.

It was a gorgeous day out, only slight wisps of clouds in the brilliant blue sky. The ground underneath her sandals (she refused to ever wear sneakers unless she was exercising) was soft and gently sprinkled with leaves. Entering the Jumper, she grabbed the two bags, as well as one of the sleeping bags that were always stored in the Jumper, and headed back out, making sure to close the rear door so that no unsuspecting animal could get in. When she returned to the campsite she quickly went inside the tent and started setting up the bedding. Outside, she could hear Lorne returning to the site, whistling to himself as he piled up the wood he had collected.

"How's it going in there?" Lorne called out to her.

"Everything's fine, Evan. Don't worry about it." Lannie called back.

"Are you sure? You might need some assistance, and I might be able to lend a hand." Lorne entered the tent, trying to look serious. Within seconds, however, he was grinning wickedly as Lannie threw a pillow at him.

"Oh, yes, kind sir, some assistance would be lovely." Lannie mocked. Lorne just grinned even more and wrapped his arms around Lannie.

"Well then, let's see what I can do for you."

-----------

Two hours later, Lorne and Lannie were sitting outside as the sun was setting in front of them. Lorne had started a fire, and Lannie was poking at the food that was wrapped in aluminum foil.

"Are you sure it's going to cook properly?" Lannie asked. Lorne, who was sitting behind her, rested his head over her shoulder and looked at the fire.

"Yes, my little Pyromaniac, the food will cook. Now stop playing with the fire." Lorne chided.

"What's a Pyromaniac?" Lannie asked.

"You." Lorne answered. "You can't keep away from the fire, you have to play with it. It's amazing to me how those candles we have in our quarters still have yet to be lit. God only knows what you'd do with them."

"Fire. Friend." Lannie quoted. Lorne groaned into Lannie's shoulder as she laughed.

"Well, like I said, stop playing and let the food cook. Would you rather eat a MRE, or some real camping food?" Lorne asked.

"I like real food. Let Rodney have all the MRE's." Lannie replied. Lorne chuckled, then took in a sharp breath. Lannie turned around to face him.

"Hey, you okay?" she asked. Lorne opened his squinted eyes and forced a smiled at Lannie.

"Yea, I'm great. I just got a cramp from sitting like this for two long." Lorne quickly stood up, only wincing slightly as he rubbed his stomach. Lannie stared at Lorne intently, biting her lower lip, but didn't say anything. Lorne smiled reassuringly at her.

"What? I'm fine, Lannie. Much better now that I'm standing up." Lannie nodded at him and turned back to the fire.

-----------------

"Ah!! Evan!!! Stop that!!!" Lannie yelled in between bouts of laughter. She tore down the beach as Lorne chased after her. Her adrenaline burst slowly dying out, Lannie slowed and finally collapsed onto the beach, Lorne easily catching up to her.

"Don't you go running with Ronon? Where's your stamina?" Lorne teased, standing over her.

"That's just an easy run, it's not running for your life because your boyfriend is trying to feed you to the fishes." Lannie admonished. "Plus, we've been swimming for most of the day, so you can't expect me to have that much energy."

"And your point is?" Lorne teased, dropping down onto the sand next to her, panting heavily.

"You're just as tired as I am. See? There was no point in you trying to throw me into the water. Fully clothed." Lannie huffed. Lorne grinned.

"Oh yes there was." He replied, wagging his eyebrows at her. Lannie stared at him for a minute, then realized what he had meant.

"That is cruel, Evan!! I can't believe you would do that!" Lannie exclaimed.

"What, want you wet while wearing a white tank top? That's not cruel at all, that's a present." Lorne replied, leaning over to kiss her. Lannie allowed it briefly, then pushed him away.

"From now on I'm wearing a black shirt when we're on the beach." She declared, glaring at him. Lorne laughed and pulled Lannie into a hug.

"Just as sexy." He whispered into her ear. Lannie groaned, but was cut off by Lorne kissing her again. She casually brushed her hand over Lorne's forehead, and was surprised to find him heating up.

"Evan." She said in between kisses.

"What?" he asked. Lannie finally pulled away.

"You're hot." She told him. Lorne grinned.

"Glad you finally realized that, Lannie. I mean, we've only been dating almost a year now." He retorted. Lannie shook her head, but smiled at the comment.

"Not like that. You have a fever, Evan." She explained. Lorne shook his head.

"I've been out in the sun all day, Lannie. It's just the heat. I feel fine." Lorne smiled at her. Lannie frowned.

"I don't really believe you, but you're right about being in the sun. I need some shade. Let's go back to the tent." Lannie said, standing up.

"Ah, the magic words." Lorne joked, wrapping an arm around Lannie's waist as the two walked back to their campsite.

------------

Later that evening, Lannie was woken up to Lorne moving around the tent.

"Evan? You okay?" She asked him.

"Yea, I'm fine. I think I just ate something that didn't agree with me. I'll be back. Sorry to wake you." He quickly left the tent and took off into the woods.

Lannie quickly dressed and left the tent. She knew that it wasn't just something Lorne had eaten. After sitting out by the fire pit for a few minutes, Lannie heard some rustling as Lorne returned, looking very pale.

"Evan? Are you okay?" she asked. Lorne looked at her and shook his head.

"I don't think so, Lannie." He replied shakily, leaning on a tree that was next to him. Lannie quickly went over to him and felt his forehead.

"You're burning up, Evan. Come on, we'll break down the campsite later, I'm getting you back to Atlantis." Lannie guided Lorne's arm around her shoulder and led him down the path towards the Jumper.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

She had no idea how much time had passed when she felt arms encircling her and wiping away the tears she hadn't realized she had been shedding. Teyla's voice was calm and soothing to her, and she sniffled, raising her head up from Teyla's shoulder.

"Are you alright?" Teyla asked her. Lannie nodded, looking up to see that Colonel Sheppard, Dr. Weir, and Dr. McKay were there as well. Lannie smiled slightly at them, wiping her face of any excess tears.

"I'm ok. I just…" She trailed off silently. Sheppard nodded.

"Lorne's a tough guy, and from what I managed to get from Beckett you got him here just in time, so he'll be fine. He'll have a nice scar to show from it, but he'll be okay." He smiled comfortingly at her. Lannie smiled softly and nodded in reply. She stood from the Jumper chair and looked at the group around her.

"I think I should go see how it's going. I don't know how long a surgery like this normally takes." She said.

"It might not take that long, actually. Ronon is actually there already, so we should see what he knows." Dr. Weir replied. The group left the Jumper Bay, Sheppard slinging an arm around Lannie's shoulders in a comforting gesture as they walked. A few minutes later the group entered the Infirmary. Ronon stood from the chair where he had been lounging.

"You okay?" He asked Lannie. Lannie smiled at him and nodded. Nodding silently back, he turned to the rest of the group.

"Beckett's just finishing up. One of the nurses told me he'd be out here in about ten minutes, and Lorne will go to a recovery room." Everyone nodded.

"Well, do I need to be here? I mean, Lorne's a nice enough guy, but I'm not his CO or his girlfriend." McKay piped up. Dr. Weir looked over at him.

"You can go back to your work if you want to, Rodney. No one asked you to stay this long." Rodney faltered for a moment, then looked at Lannie.

"Your Major will be okay. And Zelenka said that you don't have to help him out Monday if you don't want to." With that, he turned and left the infirmary. Lannie smiled and shook her head as she watched him leave. Everyone else made themselves comfortable in the chairs around them, waiting for Beckett to emerge from the surgery room. Lannie sat down in between Teyla and Ronon, with Colonel Sheppard and Dr. Weir across from them. Finally Dr. Beckett emerged, still in his scrubs.

"Ah, everyone's here, I see. Well, the Major is just fine. We removed his appendix and are pumping him with antibiotics in case of any infections. The appendix did partially explode, however, and that left toxins in his system. He'll have a wee bit of a scar and his healing time might take a while, but he'll be absolutely fine."

"How long will he be off active duty?" Sheppard asked.

"I'm wanting him on bed rest for the first week he's out of here, and then he'll be on light duty after another week or so." Beckett replied.

"Well, looks like you'll have someone to finish all you paperwork, John." Lannie spoke up. Everyone chuckled, knowing full well that Lorne did most of the paperwork anyway. Beckett looked over at Lannie, who was biting her pointer finger, something she did whenever she was nervous. Beckett shot her a disproving look quickly and she stopped.

"You can go see him if you want, Lass, but he's still unconscious. I think that everyone else should come back tomorrow, see if he's up for visitors." Beckett said to everyone. Lannie stood and bit her lip again slightly as she looked back at the rest of the group. They all stood and nodded encouragingly at her, then turned and left the infirmary. She walked over to where Beckett was standing. Carson smiled kindly at her.

"He looks pretty much the same, although he might be a little pale. He's breathing fine on his own, so he doesn't have a cannula, however he does have a few IVs because of the antibiotics. Alright?" Lannie nodded at him. Beckett gestured to a curtained area of the room.

"He's right back there. I'll give ye a couple of minutes, but then I'm gonna insist that he get some rest, and you as well." Beckett smiled at Lannie again, then went into his office. Lannie walked over to the curtain and gently pushed it aside, revealing Major Lorne lying on the bed. Beckett had been correct, he was paler than normal, and he had two different IVs in his hand. He was wearing white medical scrubs, and there was a blanket covering him and his incision. Lannie found a chair by his bed and sat down next to him.

"Well, this is a role reversal." Lannie joked, remembering her own brief time in the Infirmary when she had been wounded through the City. "I guess we'll be twins now, our scars are pretty much in the same spot." She watched Lorne sleep, making soft noises each time he exhaled. Lannie inched closer to his bed and took his hand in hers.

"I'm glad I got you back in time, even if you still had to have surgery. Everyone was concerned, you should have seen the group in the waiting area. And I bet when I go back to our quarters everyone will say something. You're pretty popular, you know?" Lannie grinned.

"But remember that I'm your number one fan. I know, it's really cheesy, but we both know it's true." Lannie stood up and gently brushed some hair from Lorne's forehead. He stirred slightly at her touch, but remained asleep. Lannie leaned down and gently kissed him, then squeezed his hand gently and left the area. Beckett was still in his office, so Lannie went over and knocked softly on the door frame.

"Ah, Lannie. All set?" Beckett asked, looking up from his computer.

"Yes. I think I'm going to go get something to eat, and then go back to my quarters. What time is it exactly?" Lannie never had a watch with her.

"It's about seven pm, so I'd hurry to the Mess before they close. I'll give you a call tomorrow when the Major wakes up, okay?" Lannie smiled and nodded, turning and leaving the infirmary.

The walk to the Mess Hall was fairly quick. She entered and went straight over to the food line, not realizing how hungry she was. After getting her food, she found her favorite table over in a quiet spot looking out on the water. She hungrily began eating her food, not noticing a small group of military walking over to her, including the men on Lorne's team.

"Lannie?" One of them spoke up. Lannie looked up, quickly swallowing her food.

"Yes, sir, how can I help you?" Lannie asked.

"We were just wondering how Major Lorne was doing, miss. We heard he was in surgery and wanted to see if everything was okay." Lannie smiled.

"The Major is fine. He had appendicitis, and he got to the Infirmary just in time. He'll be back to work in a week or so."

"That's good to know. Thank you, Lannie." The rest of the group murmured their thanks and left Lannie to finish her meal. Lannie knew that the rest of the Military on Atlantis would know soon about Lorne, as would most of the scientists.

Lannie finished her meal, getting some snacks for her room as she left the Mess. On her way back to her quarters she did encounter a few people, all who asked about Lorne. After quickly answering all of them, she made it back to her quarters. Changing quickly into her pajamas, she stretched out on the bed. The day hadn't exactly gone as planned, and Lannie was slightly disappointed. However, she was happy that Lorne would be okay, and that she had known ahead of time that he would be ill. Pulling the blanket over her, she tried to make herself comfortable, but not having Lorne lying next to her made it hard to fall asleep. She eventually did however, wrapped up around a pillow.

----------------------

"Lannie? It's Doctor Beckett." Lannie made a mental note of the page she was on in her book, and activated her radio.

"Yes, Carson?" She asked.

"I just wanted to let you know that the Major is awake and asking for ye. If you'd like to stop by the Infirmary you're more than welcome." Beckett replied.

"Thank you Carson, I'm on my way." Lannie stood up from her chair on the balcony and went back inside her quarters, putting the book on the Coffee Table. She grabbed a book that Lorne had been reading lately and took off towards the infirmary.

"Ah, Lannie, I figured you'd be here quickly. No I have to warn you, the Major is a bit groggy because of the pain medication. I don't know how long he'll want to stay awake, but you're welcome to stay with him as long as he is."

"Thank you Carson." Lannie said to him, smiling. She quickly walked over to the still curtained area and moved the curtain aside slightly, entering the area.

Major Lorne's head was propped up a little more, and he wasn't as pale, although he seemed very tired. However, as soon as he saw Lannie his face lit up.

"Hey sweetheart." He said, smiling with as much strength as he could. Lannie returned the smile, dropping her things on the chair and leaning forward to kiss Lorne lightly.

"Hey, Evan. How are you feeling?" Lannie asked, taking Lorne's hand.

"I've been better, actually. Although the drugs Beckett's pumping me with are really, really good." Lorne replied. Lannie smiled. Lorne definitely sounded like he was on heavy doses of pain medication. Lannie brushed some of Lorne's mussed hair from his forehead.

"Everyone's thinking of you. A bunch of the military cornered me in the Mess last night, and a few scientists as well. I never realized how popular you were." Lannie joked. Lorne chuckled slightly, wincing as he did because of his sutures in his side.

"What can I say, I'm a nice guy. As long as you're not as obnoxious as Rodney or even Kavanaugh used to be, people will like you. I mean, look at the gorgeous woman here with me right now. She definitely wouldn't be here if I were an ass." Lorne said, giving her a loopy smile. Lannie chuckled and shook her head. She moved the chair closer to her and sat down, moving the book to her lap.

"What's that you have there?" Lorne asked. Lannie held it up for him to see.

"I brought you the book that you've been reading. I figured it would help pass the time while you're here."

"What, no Laptop and movies?" Lorne asked. Lannie shook her head.

"I wanted to know which ones you wanted to see before I brought that. And besides, I don't know how long you'll be staying here."

"At least another two days, I'm afraid." Carson said, holding the curtain aside. "I'm just checking on how you're feeling, Major."

"A little woozy, doc. And I can't really move. It's a little uncomfortable." Lorne replied. Carson nodded.

"We can shift you slightly if you'd like, but you can't really move that much because of the healing you need to do. You're wound could open again, even if it is small." Carson told him. Lorne rolled his eyes slightly, frustrated that he couldn't move.

"I thought that it took less time to recover and everything, what with new technology and all." Lorne said.

"Aye, normally. However, your appendix actually burst before we could remove it, meaning that some toxins got into your system. It'll take a little more for you to recover because of that. You'll be off heavy duty for about a month, but you can do restricted things after about two weeks." Beckett replied. Lorne's eyes got big.

"A month? Doc, you're killing me here. What am I supposed to do for a whole month?"

"I'm sure ye can think of something. It's only two weeks of actual nothing. After that, you can do everything but go off-world." Carson winked at Lannie, who blushed furiously. Carson finished his check of the Major, then nodded his head approvingly.

"You're healing well, Major. But I suggest you get plenty of rest while you're here. And I'm limiting the amount of visitors you'll be having to just Lannie and a few others. Is that okay?" Beckett asked. Lorne nodded slightly.

"As long as I get to see my beautiful girl whenever I want, I'll be fine, Doc." He replied, his eyes drooping slightly. Lannie to the hint and stood quietly.

"Why don't you sleep now, Evan, and I'll be back later. I'll bring one of our new movies to watch, okay?" Lorne made an approving noise as he fell asleep. Carson led Lannie out of the room.

"I'll give you a call, unless you want to stay here and help me out a bit. I might have some reports for you to file if you'd like." Carson said to her, smiling. Lannie smiled back.

"Why not? I'm just going to go back to my quarters and grab a few things, then I'll be back, is that alright?"

"Of course. I'll be in my office when you return." Carson smiled once again at Lannie, then headed for his office. Lannie turned and left the Infirmary, heading back to her quarters. As she rounded the corner to her room, she spotted two figures leaning up against the wall next to her door. Lannie sighed bemusedly.

"Gentlemen, what can I do for you?" she deadpanned as she approached the two. Colonel Sheppard smirked at her.

"Hey, Lannie. Ronon and I were just wondering how the Major was doing." Ronon re-folded his arms across his chest as his response. Lannie smiled slightly and shook her head.

"He's sleeping at the moment, but he's fine. You actually have clearance to go see him, John, however I think Carson forgot to put Ronon on the list. You'll have to ask nicely if you want to see him." She looked over at the Satedan. He shrugged.

"It's ok. I'm sure I'll see him when he gets out." Ronon replied. Lannie smiled at him.

"Well, that's good to hear. I'm sure I'll try to see him when we get back from our away mission." Sheppard replied. Lannie raised an eyebrow at him.

"Where are you going?" she asked. Ronon visibly stiffened as Sheppard just shrugged.

"Oh, you know, typical meet the locals, try to be friends, the usual. We'll be back in no time. However, the other Major that the Daedalus is letting us borrow is going to be in charge temporarily. But like I said, it's a typical meet and greet. Nothing exciting."

Lannie locked eyes with Ronon. "Colonel, with your team, nothing is ever typical." Ronon continued to stare at her, and the two had a silent conversation. Sheppard spoke up.

"That may be so, but it just makes things more interesting. Well, I'm going to go head to the Armory to get ready. You coming, big guy?" he asked Ronon.

"I'll be right there." Ronon replied. Sheppard nodded and took off down the hallway.

"Oh, John?" Lannie called out, looking over at him quickly.

"Watch McKay's six." Sheppard raised his eyebrows at her, but then turned around again and disappeared. Lannie turned her head to face Ronon completely.

"You did not tell them." She said. Ronon shook his head.

"I didn't remember until I saw the address. They name the planets differently from what I know." Ronon replied. Lannie nodded slightly.

"Well, you can't get out of this. And John will be waiting for you, so you should be going. But Ronon," she said, reaching out for his arm, "please be careful. And don't do anything too foolish." Ronon locked eyes with her once more, then nodded slightly to her and took off down the hallway.

------------------------------

Lannie was in the Laundry room gathering her things. Major Lorne was resting comfortably back in their room, even though he was complaining about being on bed rest. However Beckett was stopping by the next morning, and he would consider giving him crutches to use until the stitches came out. The door to the Laundry opened softly, and a tall shadow crossed Lannie's sight.

"You're out of the Infirmary already." Lannie commented. Ronon walked up beside her and leaned on one of the machines.

"Yea, Beckett let me out. Said I'll be fine, I just need to rest." He replied. Lannie looked up at him and smiled.

"It's nice to see that you're okay. A lot of people were worried about you." She told him.

"That's a surprise." Ronon commented. Lannie smiled.

"Well, you'd be surprised how many people respect you."

"So, Lorne got out of the Infirmary." Ronon stated.

"Yes, Beckett has had his hands full the last few days, first with Lorne, then McKay, and now you, so they let Evan out a little early."

"Lucky him." Ronon said. Lannie chuckled.

"I heard he saved your life. Do your people do the life debt thing?" Ronon shook his head.

"No. But I'm grateful. Beckett's a good man." Ronon paused, looking at her sideways. "How much do you know?" He asked.

"Most of it, actually. I was the one who suggested to Sheppard and Teyla that the Wraith would put a beacon back in you. McKay obviously did the rest, which is how they found you on Sateda. The rest, well, you know me." Lannie ended shrugging slightly. Ronon nodded.

"Beckett says I can't go running for a few days." He said. Lannie smiled.

"I'm not surprised. You should take time to just relax. The last few days were hard, even though you needed the closure." Ronon raised his eyes at her.

"I mean, you needed to make peace with yourself. Your entire planet was wiped out, including your wife right in front of your eyes, so it's understandable that you would still have, well, to use a Dr. Heightmeyer term, unresolved issues. I think that you going back there and killing all those Wraith helped you to move on." Lannie explained. Ronon thought for a moment, then looked at Lannie.

"You might be right." He said. Lannie smiled and finished gathering her laundry.

"Well, Evan is probably wondering where I am, and he's not allowed out of bed until he sees Beckett tomorrow. I'm glad you're back home, Ronon. Goodnight." Ronon reached out and gently grabbed Lannie's arm.

"Thank you, Lannie." He said quietly. Lannie nodded silently, the shifted her basket and left the Laundry.

-----------------------------

"Where were you?" Lorne asked, attempting to lift himself from the couch. Wincing in pain, he lay back down, watching as Lannie dropped the basket off in the bedroom. She returned to the living area and sat down on the edge of the coffee table.

"I was in the Laundry room." She answered.

"Took you a while." Lorne commented.

"Yes, well Ronon came in, so I talked with him for a few minutes."

"Wait, Ronon can wash those leather outfits of his?" Lorne asked incredulously. Lannie laughed.

"Not everything he wears is Leather, Evan." She replied. Lorne shrugged.

"I know, but it's just, well, weird, to think that he does laundry and stuff. Makes him more…"  
"Normal?" Lannie interjected. Lorne chuckled.

"Sure. Normal." He responded, tugging Lannie to him.

"Careful, that's your injured side." Lannie warned, sitting down gingerly next to him, running a hand across his chest. Lorne sighed softly.

"You do realize that the moment Beckett clears me for duty, whatever his restrictions are, I'm locking the two of us in here for at least two days. I need to thank my personal nurse privately. Plus the fact that my appendix exploding kind put a damper on your birthday celebration."

Lannie blushed furiously and giggled. He had been in the Infirmary for the past three days, and Lannie had tried to help him as much as he needed, but because of everyone going after Ronon, Lannie had been busy working in the Labs as well as the Infirmary. Suddenly, Lorne's eyes widened.

"Did you go back and break down the campsite?" he asked her. Lannie nodded.

"Yesterday. Doctor Zelenka needed to do something on the mainland, so I went with him and took care of everything." Lannie responded. Lorne nodded.

"That's good. Sorry I wasn't able to help."

Lannie moved off the couch and sat on the floor by Lorne's head. Leaning against his shoulder, Lannie smiled and looked into Lorne's ice blue eyes. Lorne smiled and started playing with Lannie's hair.

"I'm just glad that you're okay. That everyone's okay. Even for this moment, everyone's safe and relatively healthy." Lannie whispered. Lorne smiled down at her. He knew that Lannie knew everyone in the City, and was concerned for everyone's safety.

"Just another day in the Pegasus Galaxy, Lannie." Lorne said softly. Lannie smiled as the two fell into a comfortable silence.

--------------TBC------------------

I hope you enjoyed it!!! Please review, 'tis the season for giving!!!!


	34. Repliwhat?

Author's Note: Oh, man, have I completely forgotten all about this story until last week. Then, I realized that I have all this stuff on my computer, a whole new season has started, and I'm still not even through half of Season 3. So, apologies to all those who have been waiting for me to post something, and thank you for the support. I have a feeling I might skip some episodes, but I haven't really figured out a long term plan with this story. Anyway, here's the "latest" part, and hopefully I'll have more posted very soon. So, until then, enjoy, and please review!!

---------------------------------------------

"Hey Doc, what's going on?" Major Lorne asked as he walked into the Control Room. Doctor Zelenka was walking around the consoles, checking on what the Technicians were working on.

"Ah, Major. Good to see you walking around on your own." After Major Lorne's appendicitis, Dr. Beckett had kept him on crutches for two weeks, much to his chagrin. Major Lorne smiled.

"Yea, Beckett's letting me walk around on my own now, but I can't be on my feet all day long. He's also finally cleared me for light duty, which I'm grateful for. Doctor Weir called me down a few minutes ago, where is she?" He asked, looking around.

"Ah, well, she called you here because we have been left in charge. She decided to go with Colonel Sheppard and his team to a, um, research outpost that was inhabited. They just left a few moments ago." Lorne slowly followed Zelenka into Dr. Weir's office and sank down into the chair in front of it. Zelenka paused for a moment, but then sat down in Dr. Weir's chair.

"So, where is Lannie today?" Zelenka asked Lorne. Lorne shrugged.

"I think she said she was either doing something for Beckett or McKay. She bounces around on projects for the both of them, so it's hard to keep track."

Zelenka smiled knowingly. Rodney was constantly pulling Lannie into his experiments, and Dr. Beckett had been teaching her Biology, which she had developed an interest in. Lorne was used to her taking off almost every day to parts unknown, as long as she came back at a decent time, he didn't mind. He knew that Lannie liked to keep busy, and if she didn't want to help she wouldn't.

"Well, I don't know if you have any work to do, Major, but I have a few projects that I am working on. I will keep in radio contact, then come switch with you?" Zelenka asked. Lorne nodded.

"Sounds good, Doc. See you in a while." Lorne replied. Radek quickly left the room as Lorne turned his radio on.

"Lannie? Where are you?" he called.

"Um, I'm in Rodney's lab. Why?" Lannie replied a few seconds later.

"Well, Zelenka and I are in charge since Doctor Weir went off-world, so I was wondering if you could go to our room and grab me a book or something."

"Sure, I'll be over there in a few minutes." Lannie replied, clicking the radio off.

Lannie turned to the computer she had been working on. Quickly saving all her work, she hopped down from the stool she was sitting on and left the lab. Entering the closest transporter, a few minutes later Lannie entered her quarters. Swiftly grabbing some things, she left the room and within minutes bounded into Dr. Weir's office.

"Okay, I'm here with entertainment." Lannie proclaimed. Lorne was lounging on the couch, staring into the Gate Room.

"Hey sweetie, thank you so much." He replied.

"I brought the book you've been reading, and I also brought a Sudoku book and your sketch book and your pencils, I didn't know if you might want them, you've been trying to draw the Gate Room for weeks now and haven't really had a chance." Lorne flushed slightly, but smiled at Lannie.

"Thanks, Lannie, I appreciate it. Hopefully it won't be long before everyone comes back and I can be relieved." Lannie dropped down into the chair in front of Lorne.

"Where did Doctor Weir go, anyway?" Lannie asked. Lorne shrugged.

"Dunno. She went with Sheppard and his team, so it must have been important." Lorne replied. Lannie sat back, deep in thought.

"Rodney said he was sending a MALP through to a planet in the database that he couldn't find any information about. I wonder if they found people there." She mused. She quickly jumped up out of her chair.

"I'll be right back." She called over her shoulder as she bounded out of the room to the Control Center. Lorne smiled and shook his head at Lannie's antics. Sighing slightly, he grabbed his book and opened to the marked page. He glanced up occasionally to see Lannie speaking with the Gate Tech intently, looking over his shoulder at the information he was explaining to her on the computer. A few minutes later Lannie returned and flopped down onto the couch next to Lorne.

"Well, that was a bust." She said.

"Oh?" Lorne asked, still reading.

"I have no information about the planet, and we couldn't find anything other than what Rodney had found initially. I guess we'll have to wait for them to get back for the story." Lannie replied.

"How sad for you, having to wait to be nosy." Lorne quipped. Lannie punched him in the arm in retaliation.

"Ok, enough. I need to sit here and look like I'm in charge, and don't you have work to do today as well?" Lorne asked, looking over at Lannie. Lannie frowned.

"Yes. Rodney has this completely ridiculous experiment that he's working on, and he's made it clear to everyone that I'm the only one allowed to help him on it. I guess I might as well go back to that." With a sigh, Lannie stood up from the couch.

"Maybe I'll see you for lunch or something?" she asked hopefully. Lorne looked up and smiled.

"Absolutely. I'll see you later, Lannie." Lorne replied. Lannie smiled brightly and left the room. Lorne settled back into the couch, opening his book again.

Lannie quickly walked back down the hallway towards the lab. Even though she could be working with Carson today, Rodney had begged her to run a few simulations for him. He had been giving her more and more jobs to do lately, claiming that he didn't trust the actual people who worked for him. Lannie thought that he was doing it to change her mind about learning the 'soft' sciences, which she had taken an interest in. Rodney, for some strange reason, was becoming more and more involved in her life. He would randomly stop by her and Lorne's quarters at night, claiming to have an issue with something, and then spending the next hour or so just talking with her.

Lannie sat back down at the bench and logged back onto her computer. She began running her experiment again, but something was nagging at the back of her mind. Reaching up to her radio, she quickly called to Dr. Zelenka.

"Radek? Do you have a moment?" she called.

"Of course, Lannie, how can I help you?" Zelenka replied.

"I was wondering if I could come down and look up something in the Ancient Database on your computers." Lannie said.

"Of course, Lannie, I'll make sure no one else is using them. See you in a few minutes." Zelenka responded. Lannie smiled gratefully to herself, and checking that the computer would run the simulation safely for a while, hopped off her stool and headed down the hallway towards Zelenka's lab.

Within moments, Lannie arrived in Dr. Zelenka's lab. Zelenka looked up from his computer immediately.

"Ah, Lannie. Good." He greeted her, adjusting his glasses. "I set the computer up for you over here, so you can have some quiet."

"You didn't have to do that, Radek." Lannie replied, following Zelenka across the room. "You know I can block out noise."

Radek chuckled. "Yes, I know you are talented at ignoring noise, especially McKay. But we are running some experiments that can get lout, so I did not want them to bother you." He watched Lannie as she sat down at the computer.

"I am curious. What do you need to look into the Ancient Database for? Can you not just look inside your mind for what you are looking for?" he asked her.

"Actually, searching within my mind takes longer and gives me a headache. It's easier just looking at the database itself. And to answer your first question, I am looking for more information about the planet where Colonel Sheppard and everyone else went. There's something about it that bothers me."

"Hmm." Zelenka thought out loud. "Well, if you need help, I am here."

"Thanks, Radek, but you have to go relieve Evan in a little while, remember." Lannie replied.

"Yes yes, of course. Well, I'll let you search." With that, Zelenka gave a quick smile and headed back to his experiment.

Lannie turned back to the computer. At some point recently, someone had created a user-friendly search program that allowed for people to access the database and hopefully find what they were looking for. However, only a few people in Atlantis had complete access to the entire database, and Zelenka was one of them. Lannie, no matter how much she begged and argued the reasons why she should have full access, did not.

("I'm sorry, Lannie, but this order isn't from me, it's from the IOA. They're still afraid of what you're capable of doing, and even though you're an Ancient and have it in your memory already, they still have qualms." Weir had explained)

Lannie entered the address of the planet into the search program. The planet was quickly brought up, giving the bare minimum of information. Lannie went through the information, then brought up a new search window, and began looking for similar references. An hour later, Lannie had no new information. It seemed that the Ancients had erased any mention of the people there or what went on there. Sighing frustratedly, Lannie rested her head on the table.

"What, sleeping on the job?" Lorne joked, standing a few feet behind her. Lannie raised her head and mock-glared at him.

"Oh yea, I'm just so exhausted from sitting around staring at a computer screen. You're going to have to carry me out of here."

"That won't be a problem, however, I think Beckett would yell at me for doing heavy lifting right after being cleared for moderate duty after having my appendix out." Lorne replied, walking over and standing behind her, rubbing her shoulders gently. Lannie sighed happily and relaxed under his touch.

"So, do you think you have the energy to go to the Mess Hall with me for some food?" Lorne asked her.

"I'll try." Lannie quipped. Lorne squeezed her shoulders as Lannie stood up from her seat, stretching slightly.

"Okay, let's go." She said, stretching up onto her toes to kiss Lorne quickly. Swinging an arm around Lannie's shoulders, Lorne led them out of the lab.

Colonel Sheppard, Doctor Weir, and the rest of the team returned two days later, but not through the Stargate. Lorne and Zelenka had taken turns running the City, while Lannie busied herself with helping Carson in the Infirmary or spending time in the Labs with Zelenka or by herself in McKay's lab. She had still been unable to find out more about the planet, but she knew she would find all about it whenever the team got home.

"Major Lorne? We just received a radio hail from Colonel Sheppard. He and the team are returning in a Jumper as we speak." Chuck the technician radioed. Lorne quickly got up from the couch where he had been sitting.

"I'll meet them in the Jumper Bay. Radio Zelenka and have him meet us there as well. Lorne out." Lorne quickly changed radio frequencies.

"Lannie? They're back." He said.

"I know, I'll meet you in the Jumper Bay." Lannie replied. She got up from her workbench and left the Lab, almost colliding with Zelenka on the way out.

"Oh, Lannie. I am sorry, are you heading to the Jumper Bay as well?" he asked her as they continued along the hallway.

"Yes, Evan told me that everyone was back. I might as well be part of the welcoming committee." Lannie replied. Radek chuckled.

"Yes, you have done your part in helping with the City. Ah, here we are." Radek said as they stepped into the Jumper Bay. The Jumper's hatch was just lowering, and Lannie could make out the heads of some of the people inside. She heard Lorne quickly approach from behind.

"Oh good, right on time." He commented as the Jumper hatch touched the ground. He stepped forward as Colonel Sheppard came out.

"Sir." Lorne greeted. "I see you brought home a new toy."

"Yes, we did. We also have quite the story, don't we, guys?" Sheppard replied, looking behind him at the rest of his team.

"Yes, well, I'm sure in due time…" Rodney began, but stopped when he spotted Lannie.

"Uh-uh. Don't come near me. Or any of us. You need to get checked out by Beckett first before." He said, flailing his arms in her direction.

"What are you talking about?" Lannie asked, looking confused.

"You could be one of them. That we just met. You need to get tested." He replied, taking a step back towards the Jumper.

"Okay, I'm confused. What's the matter with Lannie?" Lorne interrupted.

"The planet we just went to was full of lovely, Ancient-like people, who turned out to be Replicators. Ancient Replicators. And for all we know, Lannie could be one of them." McKay explained. Lorne looked slightly shocked, as Lannie stared at McKay in bewilderment.

"Rodney, I'm flesh and blood. You know that." She stammered.

"Ah, but maybe not. You could be a better version of one of them. Like, like, a human form Cylon, or something." He protested.

"Okay, now that's just ridiculous. Rodney, Lannie is a normal, Ancient, human. She's not a Replicator, OR a Cylon. You're just being paranoid. Now stop it, and let's all go get checked out by Beckett and go rest for the next few days." Sheppard spoke up, glaring slightly at McKay. Rodney began protesting, but Dr. Weir also spoke.

"I agree. Rodney, your paranoia is uncalled for. Lannie, I apologize. Major Lorne, Doctor Zelenka, thank you for taking care of the City while we were gone. You three can take the rest of the day off."

"Thank you, ma'am." Lorne replied, swiftly grabbing Lannie's arm and leading her out of the Jumper Bay. Lannie followed numbly; still in shock over what McKay had said about her. Meanwhile, back in the Jumper, Sheppard turned to McKay.

"Rodney, I don't know what in the hell that just was, but I cannot believe you said that to her. That girl is like your sister, and now you go accusing her of not being real? How dare you?"

"Colonel, we are all tired. Perhaps Rodney was not thinking when he spoke." Teyla tried to reason gently.

"Oh no, he knew exactly what he was saying. I'll be surprised if she ever forgives you this time. Now, I'm off to go see Carson, and then going to apologize to Lannie again. You'd better think about doing the same." With that, Colonel Sheppard turned and also left the Bay. Slowly, Teyla, Ronon, and Dr. Weir also left. Dr. Zelenka looked over at McKay, who was still standing there looking flummoxed.

"You'd better be thinking of a very good apology right now, Rodney. Whatever happened on your mission gave no reason for what you said to her."

"You weren't there, you have no idea." McKay snapped.

"Oh? Then why did Doctor Weir not say what you said? Or why did Colonel Sheppard not put Lannie into custody? Because it is not warranted. You made a big mistake this time, and only you can clean it up." With that, Radek turned and left Rodney all alone next to the Jumper. He stood there for a few moments longer, then with a huff took off after the rest of the group.

Rodney didn't get a chance to apologize to Lannie later that day. The incident with Doctor Weir had him working in his lab until the next day, analyzing the nanites and what they were capable of. Finally, after being woken up at his desk by one of the other scientists, he decided he needed food, and headed down to the Mess Hall. There, sitting at a table by the window, he saw Lannie, and remembered what he had said to her. Slumping his shoulders, he shuffled over to where she was sitting, coughing slightly to get her attention.

Lannie looked up expectantly, but then her face changed from that of happiness to that of hurt.

"Hello, Rodney." She said flatly, taking a sip of her drink.

"Um, can I sit here with you?" he asked tentatively. After getting a shrug from her, he sat down across from her, and began eating. Lannie rolled her eyes slightly, but said nothing to him.

Finally, after half of his meal was gone, Rodney spoke up. "So, um, about yesterday," he began, "I just wanted to say, well, you have to realize that I had just been tortured by having a hand inserted into my brain and my mind probed, and then had to deal with one of them attacking Elizabeth, so I was really…"

"Rodney," Lannie interrupted him. "Stop for a moment. You accused me of being a Replicator. I didn't know they even existed in this galaxy, and you were the person who found me in the chamber, and I know that you've seen my brain scans. You were completely out of line saying that about me. However, I know that you are sorry, or at least I hope you are."

"I am, I really am. Like I said, I was just so overwhelmed by the fact that I had gone through all that, and I just blurted it out, and…"

"Rodney! Stop talking." Lannie laughed. Rodney shook his head, blinking in confusion. Then, he smiled slightly at her. "Ok. I'm just going to finish eating. I'm starving."

"You do that. I actually have to get going, I'm meeting Teyla in the gym for a sparring session." Lannie replied.

"Oh, okay. Are you coming by the lab tomorrow to help me with that project?" Rodney asked as Lannie stood from the table.

"Yes, Rodney, I will be there." Lannie said, slightly exasperated. Smiling at him once more, she turned and left him sitting at the table, a small smile on his face.

----------TBC-----------------------


End file.
